Speaker · Updated
Roger McNamee: latest market views
Elevation Partners
Summary
Roger McNamee is a technology investor and co-founder and managing director of Elevation Partners, an early Facebook investor and mentor to Mark Zuckerberg who became a prominent critic of the company and wrote 'Zucked'.
Chorus has 6 views from Roger McNamee across 2 episodes on CNBC Power Lunch and CNBC Closing Bell since October 27, 2026. Their latest calls: bearish on NVIDIA and Anthropic.
Where they stand
Their latest bullish or bearish call on each company.
What they talk about most
The latest views
Newest first. Every quote is checked against the episode's transcript.
NVIDIABearish
China blocking Nvidia processor purchases is bad news for Nvidia shareholders.
McNamee says China is clearly trying to stop Nvidia selling its processors into China, which is bad for shareholders. He points to China building its own chip industry to compete with Nvidia and to rules that bar Chinese companies from using Nvidia processors. He says about 750,000 Nvidia processors sit in Hong Kong warehouses that China has refused to accept. He also says China-related revenue has reached about 20% of Nvidia's total.
“So the first is it's pretty clear that China's trying to prevent NVIDIA from selling its processors into China. Well, that's bad news for NVIDIA shareholders.”at 19:15
CNBC Power Lunch: CoreWeave AI Rally, NVIDIA Scrutiny and Energy Shipping Risks ·
NVIDIAUncertain
Huang's scandal looks like a hit job; losing him would hurt Nvidia, which has no second in command.
McNamee says the White House has known about the Huang relationship for a year and that Nvidia has known the White House knew, so the timing of the story is odd. He calls the investigation a probable hit job driven by China hawks and rival industry players, not the White House. He says Huang should not be removed. Nvidia has about 60 direct reports and no second in command, so a shareholder should not want to lose Huang, who he says is very much the company. He says he does not believe the board has been kept in the dark, since the relationship was openly visible.
“there's this story out that's threatening Jensen as CEO in a company where I think he has 60 direct reports, and there's no second in command. So from the point of view of the shareholder, you don't wanna lose [Jensen].”at 19:31
CNBC Power Lunch: CoreWeave AI Rally, NVIDIA Scrutiny and Energy Shipping Risks ·
Nvidia chips are about half of US AI costs, so cheaper chips would lift margins at AI labs.
McNamee says Nvidia represents roughly half the cost structure of the US AI industry. He argues that lowering the price of Nvidia processors would significantly boost margins at OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and others. That is why he says the chip-pricing pressure on Nvidia is also coming from the rest of the industry and why hurting Nvidia would hurt the whole industry.
“NVIDIA represents roughly half the cost structure of the AI industry in The United States. And quite clearly, if you could bring the price of NVIDIA processors down, that would be huge for the margins at OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and the rest.”at 19:49
CNBC Power Lunch: CoreWeave AI Rally, NVIDIA Scrutiny and Energy Shipping Risks ·
Blocking chip sales to China would do exactly what China wants and hurt an American company.
McNamee argues that China is trying to build its own chip industry and to keep its companies off Nvidia processors. If Congress blocks chip sales to China, the US would do exactly what China is trying to achieve, and it would cost an American company that dominates the global market. He thinks the US benefits whenever one of its companies dominates the global market, so the restrictions would be self-defeating.
“If we block sales to China, we're doing exactly what China appears to want. And weirdly, we're doing this at the cost to an American company that is a global market.”at 20:51
CNBC Power Lunch: CoreWeave AI Rally, NVIDIA Scrutiny and Energy Shipping Risks ·
The AI industry has invested too much, too early in a technology that won't scale to the opportunity.
McNamee says the US has argued that the way AI has been pursued is dumb. In his view it has invested too much money too early in a technology that does not scale to the opportunity it is meant to deliver. He adds that this is not Nvidia's fault, since Nvidia has been the bright shining light, but he sees the spending pattern as misdirected.
“We've invested too much money too early in a technology that doesn't scale to the opportunity we need it to deliver.”at 23:01
CNBC Power Lunch: CoreWeave AI Rally, NVIDIA Scrutiny and Energy Shipping Risks ·
AnthropicBearish
Anthropic's S-1 is speculative fiction; equity-for-compute discounts won't recur at scale.
McNamee argues the company got to its current point by trading equity for compute capacity at huge discounts to cash prices. Going forward it will buy compute at full price, so paying a dollar for what might have cost 25 cents. He says the S-1 shows a model that won't recur and probably won't be sustained through the September quarter. He notes the filing conspicuously leaves out September-quarter numbers.
“The problem with the s one is that it's speculative fiction. It is a moment in time, and it's a very special moment in time because the company has managed to get to this point by trading equity for compute capacity.”at 17:45
Shows
- CNBC Power Lunch · 1 episode
- CNBC Closing Bell · 1 episode
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Chorus reports what speakers said. It isn't investment advice.