🍰“AI’s 5-Layer Cake” — Nvidia’s epic explainer. LEGO’s verb’ing. Nio’s battery-swap cars. +End of Athleisure

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Best One Yet — “AI’s 5-Layer Cake” (March 11, 2026)
Hosts: Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell
Episode Highlights: Lego’s record year, Nio’s EV innovation, Nvidia’s “AI Cake” analogy, & more

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Episode Overview

In this fast-paced, insightful episode, Nick and Jack dive into three essential business stories shaping pop culture and the economy in 2026:

1. LEGO’s best year ever and how it’s thriving amid trade wars
2. China’s EV company Nio’s wild battery-swapping innovation
3. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s “5-Layer Cake” analogy explaining the artificial intelligence industry’s structure and trajectory

The hosts maintain their signature playful, informative tone with memorable metaphors and witty banter as they break down each story for listeners seeking fresh, actionable business context.

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Key Segments and Insights

I. End of Athleisure? (Athleisure to Denim Trend — 01:27–02:32)

• Athleisure Uniform: Nick and Jack note how the “millennial uniform” has been dominated by brands like Lululemon, Athleta, and Aloe, echoing the dominance of soft, stretchy apparel for years.
• The Plot Twist: Fabletics (Kate Hudson’s brand) is pivoting from Athleisure to denim, signaling a seismic shift in fashion trends.
  • “A workout wear brand is launching jeans” (01:49, Nick)
• Market Data: Lululemon stock is down 67% in two years — “Soft clothes are out, hard ones are in. Comfort is cold, Carhartt is hot.” (02:14, Jack)
• Listener Engagement: Spotify poll: “Do you wear more Athleisure, less Athleisure, or the same as five years ago?” (02:31, Nick)

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II. Story #1: LEGO’s Record Year (05:14–09:44)

Segment Breakdown

• Record Numbers: Despite global trade tensions, LEGO sales rose 16% in 2025 — twice as fast as the rest of the toy industry, with $13B in revenue (30% more than Hasbro and Mattel combined). (05:50, Nick)
• Strategy — Offense & Defense:
  • Offense: 860 new sets launched in a year (“more than two new LEGO sets per day” — 06:39, Jack). LEGO is “playing offense and defense at the same time.”
    • Notable sets: Golden Retriever, top Pokémon, NASA Artemis rocket, MoMA’s Starry Night ($200), Ferrari Pit Crew ($300).
  • Defense: Opening new localized factories (6th and 7th, the latter in Virginia), which reduces shipping costs and dodges tariffs. (08:47, Jack)
• Expanding Demographics: LEGO is now more than a kids’ toy — it’s a “midlife hobby,” catering to both women and men with niche sets (07:01, Jack): “Puzzling, knitting, LEGO-ing — they're all acceptable on a Saturday night.”
• Sports Metaphor Takeaway:
  • “Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.” (08:29, Jack)
  • “Offense is the new Picasso LEGO set. The defense is the distributed production of all the Legos.” (09:11, Nick)
• Memorable Moment:
  • “LEGO is the most international business in the industry, thriving even as tariffs tax every part of their business.” (07:59, Nick)

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III. Story #2: Nio & the Battery Swap Revolution (09:44–15:04)

Segment Breakdown

• Nio’s Rapid Growth: Sold 125,000 electric cars last quarter—10x more than Rivian and growing while Tesla’s sales decline. (10:43, Jack)
• Battery Swapping Innovation:
  • “In China, you don't have to charge your Nio’s battery. You can swap your Nio’s battery.” (11:27, Jack)
  • 3,800 swap stations since 2018, with 1,000 more coming this year—more locations than Tesla’s Superchargers. (11:34, Nick)
  • A full battery swap takes just 2.5 minutes and costs $25. (12:17, Jack)
  • “Imagine if you could replace your iPhone’s battery like that with a fully charged one. That’s what they’re doing with Nios in China.” (12:17, Jack)
  • “Battery as a Service” — Nio drivers subscribe to a battery plan instead of owning the battery, swapping sizes as needed.
• Financial Caveats: Nio has never made a profit in a year, with $2B lost in the previous year, but continues pushing innovation aided by state subsidies. (13:23, Nick & Jack)
• Global Competition Analogy:
  • Warning to the US: If America shields its car industry too long, “Fords could become Fiats” (14:50, Jack) — referencing how protectionism led to the decline of once-proud Fiat.
  • “Competition is the blood that runs through the veins of capitalism.” (14:30, Nick)
• Takeaway: “You can’t protect your children forever — they need to face the real world.” (13:45, Jack)

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IV. Story #3: Nvidia’s “AI’s 5-Layer Cake” (17:08–22:43)

Segment Breakdown

• Jensen Huang’s Rare Blog Post:
  • Nvidia CEO describes AI as a “five layer cake”—a memorable model for understanding industry structure and investable opportunities.
  • “AI is one of the most powerful forces shaping the world today — not just the economy. It is not a clever app … it is essential infrastructure, like electricity and the Internet.” (18:26, Jensen Huang, paraphrased by Nick)
• The Five Layers:
  1. Applications (top): How humans interact with AI (e.g. chatbots, autonomous vehicles, Salesforce’s Einstein, Waymo). (18:55, Jack)
  2. Models: Large language models; e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta. (19:06, Nick)
  3. Infrastructure: Cloud and data centers by Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft. (19:24, Jack)
  4. Chips: Nvidia/AMD designs, TSMC manufactures—“boy, do they get hot when they're humming.” (19:35, Jack)
  5. Energy: Massive electricity requirements underpinning the whole system.
• Proposed Sixth Layer: The hosts suggest natural resources (“like the cake plate underneath,” — 20:36, Nick) for chip and energy supply are foundational too (rare earths, etc).
• Churchill Quote Analogy:
  • “This is not the end. It’s not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning.” (21:27, Churchill quoted by Jack)
  • “AI is scaled, but it’s still nascent. Businesses are being created with AI but they're also being destroyed by AI.” (21:45, Nick)
• Memorable Moment: The AI revolution is “the defining economic force of the generation” — but we don’t yet know who the ultimate winners will be. (21:59, Nick)

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Additional Notable Quotes & Moments

• Fashion Trend Capsule:
  • “Denim growth is accelerating, but athleisure growth is decelerating.” (01:58, Jack)
  • “Stock price — soft clothes are out, hard ones are in. Comfort is cold. Carhartt is hot.” (02:14, Jack)
• On LEGO’s Factory Expansion:
  • “LEGO opened their sixth factory on their third continent last year…building their seventh factory right here in the state of Virginia.” (08:47, Jack)
• On Nio’s Battery Swap:
  • “It's like Jiffy Lube. You roll into this room and then the floor opens up to remove and replace your battery in just two and a half minutes.” (12:10, Nick)
• On AI's Job Impact:
  • “Only 9% of CEOs surveyed by KPMG plan to cut jobs this year due to AI.” (23:13, Jack)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• End of Athleisure, Rise of Denim: 01:27–02:32
• LEGO’s Record Year: 05:14–09:44
• Nio & Battery Swapping: 09:44–15:04
• Nvidia’s AI Cake: 17:08–22:43
• Churchill Quote / Where We Are in AI Revolution: 21:05–21:53
• Discussion on AI’s job and business impacts: 23:04–23:36
• Quick Hits/Cultural Buzz (Meta’s AI hires, Chalamet “ballet” controversy): 23:38–24:36

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• LEGO’s triumph stemmed from maximizing both “offense” (product launches) and “defense” (manufacturing strategy), growing its audience among adults and circumventing global trade barriers.
• Nio’s innovation with battery swapping and battery subscriptions demonstrates the pace and boldness of Chinese EV competition, posing a fundamental challenge to complacency in western auto companies.
• Nvidia’s “AI’s five layer cake” analogy offers a simple, sticky framework for understanding the interconnected layers (from raw energy and chips to consumer-facing applications) that power the AI industry—and shows we’re only at “the end of the beginning” of this revolution.

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For listeners or readers who missed the episode:
This summary distills the richness of Nick and Jack’s discussion, highlights their playful business analogies, and gives you all the insights needed to sound “TBOY-level” informed at breakfast, in the boardroom, or at your next brunch.

Transcript

[A]

This is Nick, this is Jack. It's Wednesday. Ceviche Wednesday, March 11th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T boy. The top three pop business news stories

[B]

you need to know today.

[A]

Live show, D.C. tonight, final like six tickets are available. That's it.

[B]

We added 20 tickets last second. Snag yours. The link's in the episode description.

[A]

Oh, by the way, besties, we are recording from the stage where we're going to actually do the show tonight.

[B]

Showtime is at 7:30. Doors open at 6:30.

[A]

As for stock markets, well, they climbed again on Tuesday as oil prices fell.

[B]

Markets remained soothed by the President's comments on Monday that the war in Iran will soon end.

[A]

And Jack, I am soothed by your voice as you share with us the three fantastic stories for today's show.

[B]

For our first story, how did Lego just have their best year ever during a trade war?

[A]

How?

[B]

By launching two new Lego sets every

[A]

day because LEGO learned a lesson from college sports.

[B]

For our second story, China's electric car company Nio is so advanced they don't charge batteries.

[A]

They swap story because neo is now 10 times bigger than Rivian and 100 times crazier than Tesla.

[B]

And our third and final story, InVideo CEO Jensen Huang just wrote a rare blog post about how you should understand AI.

[A]

Here's what he said. AI is like a five layer cake. So Jack and I are taking a bite out of each and every layer to share it with you.

[B]

But yetis before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

[A]

What a mix for the venue with a live show.

[B]

Jack. Nick. What is the millennial uniform?

[A]

Jack, I'm not seeing Brooks Brothers and J. Crew. I'm seeing viori and a hint of aloe.

[B]

It's Athleisure. It wardrobe for berries brunch or getting on an airplane.

[A]

And we see you besties Lulu leggings with the Athleta hoodie and maybe, just maybe, an outdoor voices sweat wicking tee.

[B]

But here's the plot twist, Fabletics. Kate Hudson's Athleisure brand is pivoting to denim.

[A]

I'm sorry, pause. The podjack, a workout wear brand is launching jeans.

[B]

Yes, and this may signal the end of the athleisure trend.

[A]

Heard your stretchy loins.

[B]

Because denim growth is accelerating, but athleisure growth is decelerating.

[A]

You see, Eddie's customers just ain't Netflix and chilling like they used to.

[B]

And you can see it in Lululemon's stock. Lululu is down 67% in two years.

[A]

I'm feeling it right now in Lululemon.

[B]

Stock price. Soft clothes are out, hard ones are in.

[A]

Comfort is cold. Carhartt is hot.

[B]

And we don't think Fabletics is the last Athleisure brand that's gonna be slipping into something less comfortable.

[A]

I mean, Jack, could Lululemon, maybe collab with Levi's.

[B]

Nike skims could pivot to Nike stiffs.

[A]

Jack and I also think Aloe should just acquire Jinko that jnco. You know what we're talking about.

[B]

So today's poll on Spotify. Do you wear more Athleisure, less Athleisure, or the same as five years ago?

[A]

Drop your vote in the comments and Jack and I will hit our three stars. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is the norm. Jack, Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%. That's a fat tip. T boy city on your at, Liz. If you know, you know. Cause we read to go. We can't wait no more. So just start the show, Start the show, Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. So, Yetis, Jack's instituted a new business model for his Airbnb hosting. And Jack, what is it? Here it is.

[B]

Host equals guest. Yes. I funnel all my revenue from being a host on Airbnb into one bank account and use that same bank account to book travel for myself.

[A]

Basically, it's Jack's host guest bank account for when he hosts and when he's a guest somewhere else.

[B]

When I lived in the City Neck, every time my apartment was available on Airbnb. Airbnb, it would get booked like that.

[A]

I mean, think about it. How often are you away from home? You got the bridesmaid, you got the shower, you got the bachelorette, you got the wedding.

[B]

That's three weekends away just for one wedding right there. Plus, you got to visit your mother, naturally.

[A]

Well, that's a lot of potential hosting that you could be doing on Airbnb. Let someone else stay at your place while you're away.

[B]

Take that host money and spend it when you're a guest somewhere else. Have a business model like me.

[A]

If you want to travel more, hosting more is a great way to make it happen. Financially, your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com/host menace. AI yetis. So when are we using AI? When we're jumping in T boy style to some research.

[B]

Why crunch numbers in that earnings report when a bot will do it for you?

[A]

Don't worry. Jack's love language is fact checking. So everything gets a double check. Fact check before it makes the pod you know it.

[B]

No AI slopper out.

[A]

No. So Jack and I are pumped to tell you about Mana's AI the hot new AI agent that does more than just answer your questions.

[B]

It does tasks for you that you don't want to do to get your work done faster and better.

[A]

Manus is the most powerful AI agent for people who don't code.

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We just asked Manus where the CEOs of the 100 most profitable companies went to college. Boom. It created it for us.

[A]

Or you could ask Manus to launch an e commerce shop for you. Boom. You're Anna Wintour.

[B]

Manus connects the most advanced LLMs with a set of tools to deliver real world tasks.

[A]

Oh, by the way, Manus means hands in Latin. Because like hands, Manus is pretty darn useful to humans.

[B]

And you can get your hands on Manus AI for free.

[A]

Visit Manus IM/T boy to get started with Manus and some T boy special special credits.

[B]

That's menace im TBY

[A]

for our first story. Despite trade wars, market wars and real wars, Lego just had its best year ever in 2025.

[B]

Lego is fascinating. They're winning because they're playing offense and defense at the same time.

[A]

But besties, as you may or may not know, we actually did a whole deep dive episode on the origin of the Lego on the best idea yet, our weekly show.

[B]

The episode opens with LEGO helping the all World War II.

[A]

I mean, what a story. They're also the world's biggest tire company.

[B]

Just really tiny tires.

[A]

Yeah, small, small, small tires. But there's nothing small about the LEGO business of the last year, is it, Jack?

[B]

Sales rose 16%, which is twice as fast as the rest of the toy industry besties.

[A]

Lego's now doing 13 billion bucks in revenue. That is 30% more than Hasbro and Mattel combined. They're putting up double digit growth numbers over lego. Like a young Furby, this Denmark based

[B]

family controlled business is still. True story. So if you want to buy stock, you're straight up missing out your sumo sumo.

[A]

But in the meantime, it looks like Barbie stopped playing with Ken and is now hanging out with a set of Legos.

[B]

But how was 2025 the biggest year yet for the world's smallest toy?

[A]

Well, Yetis, Jack and I jumped in T boy style for their twice annual Earnings. And it turns out LEGO has been on the offense.

[B]

Get this, they launched 860 new Lego sets last year. Yeah, the most ever.

[A]

Jack, can you sprinkle on more context please?

[B]

That's more than two new LEGO sets per.

[A]

What is that? I can't even.

[B]

We picked a random day from December, they launched a golden Retriever puppy LEGO set, a trio of top Pokemon LEGO set and a LEGO set of the NASA Artemis rocket.

[A]

And yes, all of them were triple digit price profits. Very expensive.

[B]

Now Nick and I think we need to retire the word kidalt.

[A]

I mean, at this point the kidalt term doesn't even work. It's their core customer. Because LEGO is now an acceptable midlife hobby.

[B]

Puzzling, knitting, Lego ing, they're all acceptable things to do on a Saturday night when you're staying in.

[A]

And strategically, they broaden the audience. So Lego's now catering to women with a new partnership with MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

[B]

You can buy a $200 Vincent van Gogh Starry Night LEGO set.

[A]

But then they've also gone deeper with men with a new F1 partnership this

[B]

year, the Ferrari Pit Crew set. 300 bucks. Nice gift for your man's fifth year anniversary. Wait, that was weird.

[A]

No, it wasn't that weird, Jack. Lego, they're treating business the way Jack and I see it, like a movie studio.

[B]

They're making some things rated G, some things rated PG 13, even some rated R sets.

[A]

They're doing rom coms, they're doing action. They're just approaching making anything as Legos.

[B]

Now kids still want the big starter set, bucket of Legos, but the adults want their super niche passion statement set to build and then put on their bookshelf.

[A]

But Jack, I gotta pause the pot here for a sec. Here's the shocker. LEGO is the most international business in the industry, man.

[B]

How is it thriving with tariffs taxing every part of their business?

[A]

Well, besties, Jack and I noticed that LEGO learned a lesson that we learned back in college sports. As a backup second string, third string quarterback and a potential ready to go second string face off lacrosse guy. Time for the takeaways. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Lego?

[B]

Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.

[A]

You know, yetis, Those record high 860 new LEGO sets that they launched last year, that was LEGO on the offense.

[B]

That's LEGO keeping their foot on the pedal to stay ahead of the competition, the offense.

[A]

But what you didn't see was the defense. The logistical investments that Set up the

[B]

offense for success because Lego opened their sixth factory on their third continent last year. Wow. And this year they're spending one and a half billion to build their seventh factory right here in the state of Virginia.

[A]

That's defense. That's localized production. And it's key to reducing shipping costs, avoiding tariffs, and becoming a job creator for each region that it sells into.

[B]

Which keeps you on the good side of all the politicians who are setting the tariff rates.

[A]

So the way Jack and I see it, the offense is the new Picasso Lego set. The defense is the distributed production of all the Legos.

[B]

Like in sports, offense gets all the stats and the MVP awards and all the praise and all the highlights. But the defense does the grunt work. That deserves the credit too. Vestees.

[A]

You notice how there's only been two defensive players to ever win the NFL mvp?

[B]

Two defensive players to ever win the Heisman?

[A]

Yeah. Defense just doesn't get the same glory as the offense.

[B]

Still, Lego knows what coaches know too. Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.

[A]

For our second story. While Tesla's car sales are past its peak, Nio's car sales in China are exploding.

[B]

NIO should be a wake up call to America.

[A]

We're giving it.

[B]

If we coddle our car industry forever, our Lincolns will become lemons.

[A]

Wait, do you hear what Nio's doing? But besties. To start by sprinkling on some context. Back in 2019, Nio was a new stock trading on the New York Stock exchange for just $1.50.

[B]

We covered that IPO on this podcast.

[A]

We did.

[B]

It was founded by China's Elon Musk. And the pitch was, this is Tesla, but for China.

[A]

Tesla, but with Chinese characteristics.

[B]

And that's why the Robinhood investing crowd pumped the stock up to $60 during the pandemic.

[A]

Although Nio's stock has floated back down to five bucks today.

[B]

But we still think you need to pay attention because NIO has passed Tesla, in our opinion, in terms of innovation, because besties.

[A]

Nio just announced they sold 125,000 electric cars just last quarter. Jack, can you sprinkle on more context?

[B]

That's only a third as many cars sold as Tesla, but it's 10 times more cars sold than Rivian.

[A]

And Tesla sales have fallen for two straight years, while Nio's growth has nearly doubled last quarter to 72.

[B]

Now, we said a second ago that Nio is more innovative than Tesla, in our opinion. We did. We know that's a big statement. It was bold. It was bold. But Nio is revolutionizing the car experience in ways not just new, but ways that aren't even possible here in the States.

[A]

We're talking Star wars level stuff. Like, Jack, you know in every Star wars movie they visit a new planet and like there's a new hoverboard everyone uses. That's like NIO.

[B]

We're not even embellishing this. For example, NIO announced last month that they had completed their 100 millionth battery swap.

[A]

Okay, I'm sorry, pause the pod. I'm fascinated.

[B]

Battery swap. Swap. In China, you don't have to charge your Neo's battery. You can swap your Nio's battery.

[A]

That's right. Since 2018, Nio has built 3,800 battery swapping stations, with 1,000 more coming this year.

[B]

For context, Tesla has about 3,000 supercharging stations in the U.S. so Nio has more battery swapping stations than that.

[A]

Again, Jack, we gotta dive in T boy style to this. What is the swap exactly?

[B]

Okay, so each battery swapping station has regular chargers.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Although high end neos can charge in just five minutes.

[A]

Yeah, that is six times faster than any other US electric car can charge.

[B]

But if you don't have five minutes to charge your Neo.

[A]

Let's say I only have two and a half minutes, Jack.

[B]

Then you can swap your depleted battery for a fully charged one.

[A]

It's like Jiffy Lube. You roll into this room and then the floor opens up to remove and replace your battery in just two and a half minutes.

[B]

Imagine if you could replace your iPhone's battery like that with a fully charged battery. That's what they're doing with Neos in China.

[A]

It's like a chassis Switcheroo. It costs 25 bucks and you're out in just 150 seconds.

[B]

$25. Two and a half minutes, you're out of there. That's the same experience with pumping gas

[A]

here in the U.S. in fact, NIO has turned this into a new industry. Basically bass battery. As a service, you buy the car,

[B]

but you don't actually buy the battery.

[A]

No, no, no. You subscribe to your NIO battery. It's actually sold by a different company within Nio.

[B]

You see, the battery is by far the most expensive part of an electric car.

[A]

It is.

[B]

So you can subscribe to a small battery because you live in the city and don't take long trips. And then swap out a big. For that one summer road trip you're

[A]

taking this year, you're going to Tahoe. Honey, we're swapping batteries. In two minutes.

[B]

Now, add it all up and China treats the battery with the respect that America gives to the engines.

[A]

Yeah, China has basically put the battery on a pedestal.

[B]

But we should point out a huge caveat. Although NIO just had its first profitable quarter ever, they've never had a profitable year.

[A]

Yeah, NIO actually lost over 2 billion bucks last year.

[B]

And that's the huge tension we face when it comes to Chinese competition. It's subsidized by the government, so it

[A]

doesn't matter how much money they lose at all.

[B]

What China wants is to win industries at any cost.

[A]

And what she wants, she gets. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at China's Nio?

[B]

You can't protect your children forever. They need to face the real world.

[A]

Hey, Eddies, the reason these crazy tech innovations are new news to you? Well, it's because they're barred from the United States.

[B]

And that reminds us of Fiat.

[A]

Fiat.

[B]

After World War II, Italy shielded their national car company from foreign competition.

[A]

Hey, que fatiamo. What is going on here, Jack?

[B]

They didn't want Germans, Brits and Swedes putting Italians out of a job.

[A]

Well, that's why the United States has banned Chinese cars from being imported here to America as well.

[B]

It's to protect American car making jobs.

[A]

But here's the problem. Fiat decayed. It kind of became a bad car over the last century.

[B]

Fiat went from Italian pride to Italian disgrace. Yeah, right.

[A]

They went for a honeymoon and went zero to 60 eventually.

[B]

So Yetis, what we're saying is competition is the blood that runs through the veins of capitalism.

[A]

China's competition, it's unfair. Chinese electric vehicles, they benefit from massive state subsidies.

[B]

True, but we must find a balance. We can protect our car industry in the short term, but we must invest in the long term because that Chinese competition is coming someday.

[A]

Because what China's doing right now with electric vehicles, it's moggin American electric vehicles and it even is putting Tesla to shame.

[B]

Meanwhile, America is at risk of letting our Fords become Fiat. We're going to drive to a commercial break. Let us know what you think in the comments.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[A]

And we did not make up that term. Your investment portfolio, Monarch compares it to the S&P 500 for set yourself up

[B]

for financial success in 2026 with Monarch, the all in one tool that makes proactive money management simple all year long.

[A]

Use code tboyonarch.com for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first [e-mail] with code T. Boy for our third and final story, Nvidia's Jensen Huang just drew a map of the AI industry that you need to understand.

[B]

Because AI is like a five layer case, with each delicious layer driving different elements of our economy and our stock market.

[A]

Pull out of the oven and we'll explain it to you. But besties, to start this story, let's go back to September of 2020. Jack, what was happening then?

[B]

That's when Nvidia's CEO published a blog post. That boy do I wish I had

[A]

read who's got creating a premier company for the age of AI.

[B]

The reason we wish we'd read it is that that was two years before ChatGPT launched. And yet Nvidia was talking about becoming an AI company back then.

[A]

In 2020, if you invested 1,000 BU Nvidia stock, it would be worth 15,000 bucks today.

[B]

So this week, when Nvidia CEO published the first blog post since then, six years ago, we won't be fooled again.

[A]

We read it. We read it so many times. We read this one and here it is. AI is a five layer cake. That's the title. And here's the first sentence from Jensen Huang, the legendary leather bound CEO of Nvidia. He's not a leather bound notebook, but he's his style.

[B]

He's a leather bound CEO.

[A]

It's a vibe.

[B]

He said that AI is one of the most powerful forces shaping the world today, not just the economy. It is not a clever app or a single model. It is essential infrastructure like electricity and the Internet.

[A]

So besties, grab some sprinkles, buttercream and a plate because we are slicing up Jensen Huang's five layer cake analogy on

[B]

AI because there are stock market winners in each and every layer.

[A]

All right, Jack, let's grab your apron. At the top of this AI cake is the applications. And what is that exactly?

[B]

This is how we humans interact with AI today.

[A]

Yeah. Best you think of like the chatbot Salesforce's Einstein Waymo self driving cars. These are the applications of AI in the real world that consumers interact with.

[B]

But beneath the applications are the models, the LLMs that have been trained on huge amounts of data to get smart.

[A]

That's the second layer of the cake. You got OpenAI, anthropic, Google meta. They're the players actually in the top two layers, the model and the application.

[B]

The third layer is where things get physical. The infrastructure.

[A]

Yeah, and the third layer you see Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, they all build cloud connected data centers to house and operate chips.

[B]

Which brings us to the fourth layer. The chips.

[A]

Yeah, the chips.

[B]

Nvidia and AMD design them, TSMC manufactures them and they fill up all those data centers and boy, do they get hot when they're humming.

[A]

Oh, you gotta bring EM outta the oven. Because on the bottom layer of this five layer AI cake is the energy artificial intelligence. Not possible without huge amounts of electricity.

[B]

So those are Jensen's five layers and we think you need to understand them because man, this industry is just too important not to understand.

[A]

You got energy under the chips, under the infrastructure, under the models, under the applic. A five tier wedding cake.

[B]

And what's so wild about this is that baking this five layer cake requires workers of all different kinds.

[A]

I mean, Jack, it requires electricians, plumbers

[B]

and pipe fitters and concrete pours. But it also requires tech workers, physicists, PhDs. Our best white collar and blue collar workers are building out this technology stack.

[A]

But Jensen, if you are listening, and we believe that you are, we would actually propose a six layer to your AI cake.

[B]

The natural resources for both the chips and the electricity. The natural resources are like the elect. I don't know the icing on top.

[A]

Yeah, but I guess not on top. It would be like the cake plate underneath.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Because it's below the electricity is the natural resource.

[A]

This is the reason why President Trump wants to acquire Greenland for the rare earth metals and the other rocks and resources that are critical to AI.

[B]

So AI it takes raw materials from the bottom and converts them all the way up to intelligence at scale.

[A]

And now Craven Magnolia, preferably the banana cake with the chocolate chips. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the five layer cake

[B]

of AI to grasp where we are in this AI revolution, we're gonna quote Winston Churchill.

[A]

Oh, okay. So Jack just finished this book on Winston Churchill. Jack, why don't you take it from here?

[B]

Was actually on FDR.

[A]

Supporting role, Winston Churchill.

[B]

In 1942, after the Allies finally had their first major victory In World War II, Winston Churchill grabbed the radio microphone and addressed the nation.

[A]

And what did he say? What did he say?

[B]

He said this is not the end. It's not even the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.

[A]

Okay, first of all, I like how the accent developed over the course of the quote. Second of all, yes, you do get the award. Third, we think that this captures where we are in the AI revolution. We're at the end of the beginning,

[B]

end of the beginning. Because AI is scaled, but it's still nascent. Businesses are being created with AI but they're also being destroyed by AI we

[A]

don't know who the winners of AI will be yet. We just know who's winning right now,

[B]

just like Winston and the Allies.

[A]

So the reason we wanted to read Jensen's cake post is that AI is the defining economic force of the generation.

[B]

And according to Jensen, we've spent hundreds of billions of dollars to stack it out so far. But there's trillions still to come.

[A]

Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us?

[B]

For ceviche Wednesday, LEGO enjoyed a record 2025. It's growing not from kids, but from adults.

[A]

It's all because offense wins games, but defense wins championships.

[B]

Second, Nio is doing things with EVs that would blow your mind. Like battery swapping and battery subscriptions.

[A]

Oh, we can't coddle Ford from Chinese competition forever. Or Ford could end up like fia.

[B]

And our third and final story is Jensen's first blog post in six years. It says that AI is a five layer cake.

[A]

So where are we in the baking of that cake? Well, this is not the end. It's not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end. Or the beginning.

[B]

Good job accenting halfway through the sentence. Yes, yes, yes.

[A]

But besties, this pod's not over. We'll fight them in the barn. We'll fight them on the AI. That's good.

[B]

That sounded like Gary Olden.

[A]

That's what I was going for. Besties. First, KPMG put out a shocking survey that reverses the narrative on AI and your job.

[B]

Get this. Just 9% of CEOs surveyed by KPMG plan to cut jobs this year due to AI.

[A]

They're not cutting jobs because of AI. What's going on?

[B]

CEOs apparently are not seeing the ROI on their AI investments. Yet.

[A]

One day AI is taking our jobs, the next day it's not not taking our jobs.

[B]

We're all figuring out what the future is in real time.

[A]

Maybe AI isn't like corporate Ozempic. Maybe it's more like corporate Botox.

[B]

Again, it's only the end of the beginning.

[A]

And speaking of AI. Second, we've got Meta, which just acquired maltbook, the viral social network designed for AI chatbots to become friends with their other AI chatbots.

[B]

Now, this deal brings Malt Book's two founders onto Meta's AI payroll.

[A]

And that's what this was all about. Similarly, last month, OpenAI hired the founder of OpenClaw, another AI startup.

[B]

Zuck and Altman are like, hey, we're impressed what you did with the AI thing. Come work for us. We'll pay $10 million a year.

[A]

Not too shabby. And finally, Timothee Chalamet is the top pick to win an Oscar this year. But there is one problem. And the problem is the ballet.

[B]

In an interview with Matthew McConaughey, Timothee Chalamet said that opera and the ballet are dead arts.

[A]

Having just seen the Nutcracker, I can't believe he said this.

[B]

Jack Chalamet lost 2 million followers on Instagram because he trash talked the ballet.

[A]

His mom was in the ballet. Ballet sales actually rose after he said that quote.

[B]

He came out and apologized, but still.

[A]

And now you can't even get a ticket to the Metropolitan Opera. Now time for the best fact yet, which because we just landed in DC was sent in from Kevin Goodwin on Spotify.

[B]

Washington, DC does not have a J Street.

[A]

Yeah, it's a funny thing we noticed when we were looking around, Jack was like, H I. I'm sorry, Sesame street,

[B]

we need to borrow a vowel. City planners apparently thought that the letter J looked too similar to the letter

[A]

I, which is also why there's no I train on the New York City subway. Check Yetis. You are looking fantastic. Especially if you want to buy one of the final 20 tickets we just dropped for our live show tonight in dc.

[B]

Snatch those tickets. Link in episode description. The show is at 7:30 in the Arlington Draft House.

[A]

Okay, in the meantime Jack, we gotta go crush some crab cakes and go on voice rest. Yes, you had em both Yetis. We'll see you at the show tonight. And before we go, a happy 150th birthday to AT&T. This is the 150th anniversary of the first ever phone call with Alexander Graham Bell and Kim down in Hoboken. She is celebrating the best birthday yet. And Jack, she'd like a cookie crisp. Cookie crisp. And happy 30th birthday to Colin down in Eau Claire, Wisconsin who is engaged to the best fiance yet.

[B]

Happy birthday to Irwin the Florida gator in Guatemala. Go Gators.

[A]

And Samira down in Greenville, South Carolina is turning 7 on March 12, but listens on the way to school every day. And we are so pumped for your birthday, Samira.

[B]

Happy 35th birthday to Krista O' Connell who's celebrating tonight at our live show.

[A]

I see you over there, Krista. And Joe Buckheight. The best dad yet is from Naples, Florida, but is going to our live show next month in New York City. We can't wait to see you there, Joe.

[B]

Happy anniversary to Denise and Cesar. Eleven years together since meeting in Pacifica.

[A]

They're now married. And happy one year anniversary to our buddy Nick Marino. One year since he was on Jeopardy. What is the one year anniversary of that.

[B]

I'd like to buy a noun.

[A]

And finally, a congratulations to the Fordham women in business who have their 27th annual Big Business conference.

[B]

And to anyone else celebrating something today. Make it a T, boy.

[A]

Celebrate the win and voice.

[B]

This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix, Ford and Amazon. Nick owns stock of Lululemon and Nike. And we both own stock of Spotify. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.