Authored by Matt Lamb via The College Fix,

A Michigan State University professor can sue two trustees for their role in a targeted campaign against him, a federal judge ruled recently.

Judge Hala Jarbou dismissed Professor Jack Lipton’s lawsuit against the board of trustees except for his claims against Trustee Rema Vassar in her personal and official capacity. His claim against Trustee Dennis Denno in his official capacity also remains, according to the May 28 ruling.

As previously reported by The College Fix, controversy began in October 2023, while Lipton (pictured, left) served as faculty senate chair. He delivered a letter on behalf of the faculty senate criticizing Vassar (pictured, right), then the chair of the board, for allegations of unethical conduct.

Professor Jack Lipton and Trustee Rema Vassar; Michigan State University; Dr. Rema 4 U/Facebook

According to the lawsuit, Vassar also accepted gifts from a university donor, including traveling on a private jet.

She also appeared in an ad endorsing a former trustee’s private wealth management business.

Vassar, anticipating a large turnout at the meeting due to allegations against her, organized her sorority sisters to attend.

Her supporters “jeered” at anyone who spoke out against her during the meeting, according to Lipton’s lawsuit.

“The chaos brought and disrespect shown by her supporters could have been stopped by a single statement from Chair Vassar, yet she elected to let the mob rule the room,” Lipton told The Detroit News the next day.

This statement, according to Denno, was racist. Denno coordinated with an unnamed student, according to The State News, to contact a reporter and say “Lipton= Racist.”

Denno and Vassar continued to target Lipton, as summarized in Judge Jarbou’s ruling:

Lipton alleges facts that illustrate the affirmative actions Vassar and Denno took—while acting as BOT members—that were motivated by Lipton’s speech and would chill First Amendment activity of a person of ordinary firmness. Vassar and Denno crafted the language that others would use to attack Lipton. They pushed students to file complaints. And while engaging in their official responsibilities at the December 15, 2023 BOT meeting, they coordinated with students to raise attacks against Lipton due to his protected speech. Public officials cannot insulate themselves from violating the First Amendment’s protections by simply manipulating others to engage in retaliatory conduct—particularly when they leverage their public positions to do so.

Professor Lipton says an executive firm associate told him the controversies would hurt him as he sought employment elsewhere. On this basis, the judge ruled Lipton had a case.

However, Judge Jarbou ruled that Lipton did not have claims against the other trustees because they did not do anything specifically against him.

He alleged they were at fault because they should have stepped in to stop Denno and Vassar. The board did, as the ruling notes, censure Denno and Vassar.

Around the same time as the ruling, The State News reported that Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, would not be removing Denno and Vassar from the board.

This decision came even though “an outside investigation found the trustees violated board bylaws and code of ethics by interfering in university affairs and using student groups to orchestrate attacks against colleagues.”

Around 2 p.m. ET, the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) will hold a hearing titled “Public Funds, Private Agendas: NGOs Gone Wild.” Under the Trump administration, the NGO-industrial complex has been exposed as nothing more than a money pit for how Democrats have funneled billions in taxpayer dollars into mysterious nonprofits that advance nation-destroying policies, such as disastrous open borders and the Green New Deal scam. 

“Radical, left-wing Democrats have bankrolled NGOs to advance their destructive agenda at the expense of American taxpayers. From the Green New Deal scam to facilitating mass illegal immigration and the resettlement of illegal aliens across the United States, NGOs have expended billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars in pursuit of agendas that most Americans oppose,” Subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA.) wrote in a statement.  

Greene continued, “Thankfully, the Trump Administration and DOGE are taking action to unmask these schemes and claw back those funds. Congress must also act to shut down the pipeline that keeps this money laundering machine running.” 

“Our DOGE Subcommittee is going to expose the NGO scam and continue bringing long-overdue transparency and accountability to those who abuse taxpayer dollars,” she emphasized.

Witnesses and testimonies include 

• Mr. Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies

• Mr. Daniel Turner, Founder and Executive Director, Power the Future

• Mr. Scott Walter, President, Capital Research Center

By some accounts, there are over 35,000 NGOs, most of which are funded by taxpayers through the federal government. Some also receive funding from dark money networks tied to George Soros’ Open Society Foundation and many other progressive billionaires to advance a far-left agenda. These NGOs often serve the Big Government agenda, working to centralize power in Washington for the benefit of the Deep State.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — and ultimately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s neutering of USAID — delivered a seismic blow to the NGO-industrial complex, effectively shutting off the taxpayer-funded money spigot.

The only ones loudly complaining about USAID’s wind-down? Bill Gates and Bono — which is almost too perfect, considering Gates raked in billions in taxpayer funds to bankroll his network of shady NGOs.

Recall earlier this year:

• “Gold Bars Off The Titanic”: After Trump Victory, Biden EPA Scrambled To Funnel $20 Billion Taxpayer Funds Into ‘Green’ NGOs

• DOGE Hones In On Shady Climate “Popup NGO Shell” That Received Billions From Biden

Watch Live: Accountability In Real-Time

All taxpayers want is accountability from the rogue Deep State politicians who squandered public funds and helped ignite the worst inflation crisis in a generation. 

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

CNN star correspondent Alex Marquardt announced on Monday that he was leaving the network, just months after his misleading reporting on Navy veteran Zachary Young triggered a $5 million defamation payout. 

Marquardt made the announcement on X, reminiscing about his eight years with the network. “Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business,” he wrote. 

Though Marquardt did not specify what prompted his abrupt departure, former CNN media correspondent Oliver Darcy reported that he was actually fired. Network executives and Marquardt allegedly had “editorial differences,” which led to the exit.  

Some personal news: I’m leaving CNN after 8 terrific years. Tough to say goodbye but it’s been an honor to work among the very best in the business. Profound thank you to my comrades on the National Security team & the phenomenal teammates I’ve worked with in the US and abroad.

— Alex Marquardt (@MarquardtA) June 2, 2025

The fallout follows Marquardt’s dubious coverage of Young’s selfless efforts to rescue stranded Afghans from the Taliban-controlled territory after the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal in 2021. 

Marquardt misleadingly implied that Young may have profited unethically from these rescue operations. Contrary to evidence, CNN portrayed Young as someone exploiting vulnerable individuals in Afghanistan.

FAFO 🚨

Meet Alex Marquardt he was fired at CNN for making up a fake story on Zachary Young, a private security contractor who was extracting Americans from Afghanistan

Figures not disclosed, but settlement believed to be $50-$100M bucks

The demise of fake news is underway pic.twitter.com/uSDIK8adYt

— @Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) June 2, 2025

This portrayal cost CNN big time.

Young insisted that he never charged Afghans for rescue missions and instead relied on private donations and nonprofit support.  

CNN attempted to save face by issuing an apology, but Young ultimately sued anyway. 

A jury ultimately agreed with Young’s grievances, ruling that the network defamed him. 

Court documents revealed text messages in which Marquardt vowed to take Young down. “We’re gonna nail this Zachary Young mf**ker,” he wrote. 

Those messages, along with other damning evidence, prompted a jury to award Young $5 million in damages. CNN quickly settled before additional penalties could be determined.  

Young, who is also suing the Associated Press, had originally sought $1 billion from CNN.

🚨 JUST IN: Jury holds CNN liable for the defamation of
U.S. Navy vet Zachary Young who helped with the Afghanistan evacuation – Independent

The jury awarded the man $5M in damages. pic.twitter.com/G96X2ghguu

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 17, 2025

After two days of deafening silence from the White House on Ukraine’s Sunday massive drone assault, dubbed ‘Operation Spider’s Web’ – which took out many key Russian aircraft, including long-range strategic bombers and likely even Russia’s extremely rare A-50 Radar Plane – President Trump has finally reacted publicly.

The president revealed he has held a phone call with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, which significantly lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes. Trump warned that peace is not very close on the horizon and that the two leaders covered several pressing issues in their conversation.

“We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides.” Trump went on to call it a good conversation, however “not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace.”

That’s when Trump clarified that “President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.”

The Russian leader’s words are consistent with Dmitry Medvedev’s ominous words issued the day prior, wherein the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said “retribution is inevitable”. Medvedev had warned of what’s coming:

“Our Army is pushing forward and will continue to advance. Everything that needs to be blown up will be blown up, and those who must be eliminated will be.”

Below: Ukraine on Wednesday released additional footage of strikes on four Russian air fields, including what could be two A-50 aircraft in Ivanovo…

СБУ показала унікальні кадри спецоперації «Павутина», у результаті якої уражено 41 військовий літак стратегічної авіації рф

➡️ https://t.co/OSxqEsI9CD pic.twitter.com/aGSZNEsoX3

— СБ України (@ServiceSsu) June 4, 2025

Trump didn’t reveal much further in the way of details, after the White House in a Tuesday briefing again affirmed that President Trump did not have foreknowledge of the Ukrainian cross-border operation. (But did US intelligence? very likely so.)

The fresh Truth Social statement was further taken up with Iran. “I stated to President Putin that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and, on this, I believe that we were in agreement. President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion,” he wrote.

The US President concluded, “It is my opinion that Iran has been slowwalking their decision on this very important matter, and we will need a definitive answer in a very short period of time!”

The full statement: 

This comes after the Ayatollah dismissed the latest US proposal which was submitted over the weekend. The central issue is the US demand that uranium enrichment be taken down to zero.

Whether Iran, Ukraine-Russia, or Gaza – conservative voices have been urging Trump to stand by his campaign promises to end conflicts in hotspots around the world. But the fact remains that the US is still funding and weaponizing one side of these various wars, especially in the case of Ukraine.

Trump’s silence yesterday and today, after shooting his mouth off twice last week issuing threats to Putin, is fatally weakening his position. He is ceding foreign policy to Lindsey Graham. Soon we will be back to the feeble inertia of his first term. https://t.co/LLaBXsl3Et

— George Szamuely (@GeorgeSzamuely) June 2, 2025

Of note in Trump’s phone call with Putin is that nothing was stated from Trump in the way of a US demand that Putin not retaliate against Ukraine (or at least which was not disclosed in his Truth Social post).

The absence of a preemptive condemnation for any major retaliation is interesting also combined with the White House Press Secretary saying yesterday to reporters that the war is very far away, which suggests it’s no longer a top administration priority.

Crude prices are higher this morning on signs of progress in trade talks between the US and EU and the API report of a major drawdown in American crude inventories (despite product builds).

Geopolitical tensions continue to drive prices more aggressively as the possibility of a Putin-Zelensky meeting came and went and Iranian peace deal talks stumble.

The big question for traders is – will the official data confirm API’s drawdown?

API

• Crude -3.28mm

• Cushing +952k

• Gasoline +4.73mm

• Distillates +761k

DOE

• Crude -4.30mm

• Cushing +576k

• Gasoline +5.22mm

• Distillates +4.23mm

The official data confirmed API’s report with a large crude draw offset by big draws in products…

Source: Bloomberg

Even including the 509k barrel addition to the SPR, total crude stocks fell by the most since December…

Source: Bloomberg

The rig count continues to slide (now at its lowest since Dec 2021), and despite Trump’s ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ push, US crude production remains well of its highs…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI extended gains after the official data confirmed API’s…

Source: Bloomberg

Oil rose at the start of the week after a decision by OPEC+ to increase production in July was in line with expectations, easing concerns over a bigger hike.

However, prices are still down about 11% this year on fears around a looming supply glut, while traders continue to monitor US trade tariffs as President Donald Trump said his Chinese counterpart is “extremely hard” to make a deal with.

Saudi Arabia led increases in OPEC oil production last month as the group began its series of accelerated supply additions, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Nevertheless, the hike fell short of the full amount the kingdom could have added under the agreements.

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

U.S. embassy officials in Mexico this week confirmed reports of American citizens having been kidnapped in Mexico by people they met on dating apps.

Confirming those reports, the U.S. Consulate General Guadalajara said that U.S. citizens were kidnapped in the Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Nayarit areas in recent months after meeting the individuals on a dating app.

“Victims and their families in the United States have at times been extorted for large sums of money to secure their release,” the Guadalajara consulate said.

“Please be aware that this type of violence is not limited to one geographic area. Travelers should use caution when meeting strangers.”

The officials did not name any specific dating apps but provided advice to people traveling to Mexico, saying that they should only “meet in public places and avoid isolated locations, such as residences or hotel rooms, where crimes are most likely to occur.”

“Tell a friend or family member of your plans, including where you are going, details of the person you are meeting, and the app you used to meet them,” the consulate said.

“Trust your instincts. If something does not feel right, do not hesitate to remove yourself from a situation. In case of emergency, call 911.”

The statement also noted that Americans should be aware of its travel advisory to Jalisco, where Puerto Vallarta is located. The state is classified as “Level 3: Reconsider Travel” due to crime and kidnappings. Nayarit state, where Nuevo Nayarit is located, is classified as “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution” due to crime, according to the State Department.

The U.S. Embassy breaks down Mexico state-by-state, listing the states U.S. citizens should avoid or exercise caution.

Only two states—Campeche and Yucatan—are listed under the embassy’s “Level 1” designation, which is its lowest. Every other state is rated “Level 2” or greater, with Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas states listed as “Level 4: Do Not Travel” due to crime and kidnappings.

According to the State Department, U.S. government workers cannot travel between Mexican cities after dark, cannot hail taxis, and must rely on dispatched vehicles.

“The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by U.S. government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted. In many states, local emergency services are limited outside the state capital or major cities,” the State Department cautions on its website.

Earlier this year, U.S. officials issued “Do Not Travel” warnings to several areas near the U.S.-Mexico border due to gun battles and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) being left near roadsides.

The warning, issued in January, noted that officials are “aware of increasingly frequent gun battles occurring in and around Reynosa in the late night and early morning hours.” IEDs were found in the Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando areas, which border the Rio Grande Valley area in Texas.

In a report updated in February, the Council on Foreign Relations think tank said that, since 2018, more than 30,000 people have died each year due to a “crisis of kidnappings, disappearances, and other criminal violence.” It noted that drug cartels and gangs are the primary perpetrators of the country’s violence.

After the mixed picture from Manufacturing surveys (ISM ugly, PMI solid); both Services surveys – due this morning – were expected to rise in May.

• S&P Global US Services PMI surged to 53.7 in May, from 52.3 flash and up from 50.8 in April (second best print of the year)

• ISM Services tumbled to 49.9 in May, from 51.6 (and well below the expectation of 52.0) – lowest since June 2024

So more baffle ’em with bullshit…

Source: Bloomberg

In May, private sector output growth accelerated sharply from April’s 19-month low.

Higher activity was driven by an upturn in the services economy as manufacturing output fell marginally again.

The S&P Global US Composite PMI® recorded 53.0 in May, up from 50.6 in the previous month – leading all the other major global economies.

Source: Bloomberg

“Service sector growth has improved more than first estimated in May, with confidence about the year ahead also lifting higher, buoyed in part due to pauses on higher rate tariffs. Companies have matched that optimism with increased spending and hiring,” according to Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“That said, the improvements come from a low base, following a very gloomy April, which saw growth nearly stall as confidence sank to a two-and-half year low. Reports from companies underscore how uncertainty about the policy outlook continued to act as a deterrent to expansion plans in May. Output growth and confidence consequently remain subdued by standards seen last year.

“The PMI is so far indicating annualized GDP growth barely above 1% in the second quarter, so avoiding recession but adding to our expectation of only modest GDP growth in 2025 of just 1.3%.”

However, as Williamson concludes, the stench of stagflation remains:

“Alongside sluggish economic growth, the survey is also signaling intensifying inflationary pressures. Rising costs in the service sector were again blamed widely on tariffs, which were in turn passed on to customers to result in the steepest rise in average prices charged since August 2022.

These rising price pressures will only add to policymaker reluctance to reduce interest rates, which we consequently expect to remain on hold until December.”

So, you decide: ISM Manufacturing UGLY, ISM Services UGLY; Manufacturing PMI STRONG, Services PMI STRONG!

The Bank of Canada held interest rates steady at 2.75% for a second straight meeting – matching economist and market estimates – but warned there may be a need to cut borrowing costs if the economy weakens more and inflation remains contained as US tariffs strike.  The central bank provided slight forward guidance by saying it will continue to assess the timing and strength of both the downward pressures on inflation from a weaker economy and the upward pressures on inflation from higher costs.

Also, the central bank said it is “proceeding carefully, with particular attention to the risks and uncertainties facing the Canadian economy. These include: the extent to which higher US tariffs reduce demand for Canadian exports; how much this spills over into business investment, employment and household spending; how much and how quickly cost increases are passed on to consumer prices; and how inflation expectations evolve“.

BOC officials said they held borrowing costs steady as they gain more information on Trump’s trade conflict, which they called “the biggest headwind facing the Canadian economy” as it slams exports and adds to uncertainties for consumers and businesses. At the same time, policymakers said the economy held up stronger than expected in the first quarter, and flagged a recent surge in core inflation measures.

“With uncertainty about US tariffs still high, the Canadian economy softer but not sharply weaker, and some unexpected firmness in recent inflation data, governing council decided to hold the policy rate as we gain more information on US trade policy and its impacts,” policymakers said in a statement.

And while they said there was “clear consensus” amofng governing council to pause and wait for more information on how the trade dispute plays out, the bank introduced some limited guidance on where borrowing costs are likely headed.

“On balance, members thought there could be a need for a reduction in the policy rate if the economy weakens in the face of continued US tariffs and uncertainty, and cost pressures on inflation are contained,” Macklem said in his opening remarks, adding that policymakers had a “diversity” of views on the future rate path.

Some more highlights from today’s decision, starting with…

Tariffs:

• Recent surveys indicate that households continue to expect that tariffs will raise prices and many businesses say they intend to pass on the costs of higher tariffs. The Bank will be watching all these indicators closely to gauge how inflationary pressures are evolving.
• The outcomes of these negotiations are highly uncertain, tariff rates are well above their levels at the beginning of 2025, and new trade actions are still being threatened. Uncertainty remains high.

Economy

• The Bank’s preferred measures of core inflation, as well as other measures of underlying inflation, moved up.
• The economy is expected to be considerably weaker in the second quarter, with the strength in exports and inventories reversing and final domestic demand remaining subdued.

Policy

• “We are focused on ensuring that Canadians continue to have confidence in price stability through this period of global upheaval.”
• ‘We will support economic growth while ensuring inflation remains well controlled.”
• We will continue to assess the timing and strength of both the downward pressures on inflation from a weaker economy and the upward pressures on inflation from higher costs.”

As Bloomberg notes, the statement shows the central bank is comfortable waiting for clearer signals on how the trade dispute will evolve. At the same time, policymakers are actively discussing resuming monetary easing should the economy deteriorate and inflation remain under control. A weakening economy for the rest of the year is the base case in Bloomberg survey of economists, with gross domestic product forecast to contract in the middle two quarters of this year. Inflation is seen averaging around the bank’s 2% target throughout 2025.

When the bank paused in April for the first time this easing cycle, it abandoned point estimates for gross domestic product and inflation for the first time since the Covid-19 crisis. Instead, central bankers offered two potential scenarios for the economy. It mentioned neither of these scenarios in the communications on Wednesday.

Trump has applied tariffs on a variety of Canadian goods, including steel, aluminum, autos and products that don’t comply with the North American trade pact. Uncertainty remains elevated as the administration appeals a court ruling that overturned many of his tariffs. That ruling did not apply to his sectoral levies, and Trump signed an order Tuesday doubling the metals tariffs to 50%.

In the statement, the bank said it would continue to monitor how tariffs reduce demand for Canadian exports and how it affects business investment, employment and household spending. Officials are also watching inflation expectations and how higher tariff costs are passed through.

Macklem said it was “still too soon to see the direct effects of retaliatory tariffs in consumer price data,” referring to the levies Prime Minister Mark Carney has levied on imports of some US goods, and which are currently tallying well below the total C$20 billion the federal government is expecting.

Core inflation measures surged to 3.2% in April, the highest in more than a year. While Macklem repeated that the bank is seeing “some unusual volatility” in core gauges, he also said that the measures “suggest underlying inflation could be firmer than we thought.” Higher food prices, brought on by trade disruption, may be partially responsible, the bank said.
At 2.75%, the benchmark overnight rate is at the midpoint of officials’ estimate for the neutral range, where policymakers believe borrowing costs are neither stimulative nor restrictive.

Macklem and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers are scheduled to speak to reporters at 10:30am Ottawa time.

In kneejerk response, there has been limited follow-through seen in CAD following the BoC’s decision despite some outside bets for the Bank to pull the trigger on another 25bps rate cut on account of soft growth metrics and ongoing uncertainty presented by the trade war. Instead, the recent uptick in inflation appears to have supported the decision to leave rates unchanged. On which, Governor Macklem says there was a “clear consensus” with the board wishing to hold policy until it gains more information. Going forward, policy decisions will likely weigh the downward pressure on inflation from a weaker economy and upward pressures on inflation from higher costs. USD/CAD was little changed with the pair pivoting around the 1.37 mark. Year-end pricing for further easing by the BoC moved from around 42bps pre-release to 37bps.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that to continue peace talks in Istanbul between Ukraine and Russia with the current delegations is senseless, and he has again called for talks with Vladimir Putin, after complaining that the Russian leader is sending junior officials who have no decision-making capacity. 

“We are ready for exchanges, but to continue diplomatic meetings in Istanbul at a level that does not solve anything further, I think, is pointless,” Zelensky said at a press conference, referring to the latest prisoner of war (POW) swaps.

He had described just after the Monday Istanbul meeting that the delegations “exchanged documents through the Turkish side, and we are preparing a new release of prisoners of the war.”

They agreed to another large prisoner swap, but little else, as the Russian side has continued to press demands that Ukraine forces leave the four eastern territories annexed by Russia.

But it’s what preceded the talks which speaks the loudest, as Ukraine launched its ‘Operation Spider’s Web’ deep inside Russian territory, taking out many Russian aircraft including long-range strategic bombers in what was arguably Ukraine’s most successful and brazen cross-border operation to day.

Over the weekend, three bridges in Russia’s south were also blown up in suspected Ukrainian sabotage operations, which left trains derailed, and killed at least seven people.

Following that, on Tuesday underwater explosives damaged and briefly crippled Kerch Bridge in what Ukrainian media is calling a ‘message to Putin’. So clearly by the looks of it, Ukraine doesn’t seem too interested in being at the negotiating table, after complaining that it won’t cede to pressure from Washington on giving up territory.

The timing of Sunday’s huge drone operation strongly points to Zelensky’s desire to come up with greater leverage before serious negotiations are had. For now it seems Kiev wants to sabotage the Istanbul process, while rejecting Trump efforts for a hasty settlement.

For both rounds of talks, Putin had tapped his aide and former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky to lead. From the start many Western analysts claimed this was an ‘insult’ given that it is not someone more senior. Medinsky, it should be remembered, oversaw the failed 2022 peace talks with Kiev in the weeks after the February invasion.

Gathered around Medinsky were a group of mid-ranking advisers, including officials from the Foreign and Defense Ministries, along with Putin aides – but there was no Lavrov there or someone equivalent to his stature.

Following Nvidia’s better-than-expected earnings report last Wednesday, UBS analysts were inundated with investor inquiries, primarily focused on the chipmaker’s near-term growth visibility and the durability of its long-term revenue pipeline.

Below, UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri addressed the most frequently asked questions, unpacked key commentary from the earnings call, and provided expanded visibility into a multi-year AI infrastructure boom.

Visibility to data center revenue doubling yet again?

An area where we have received a few investor inbounds, but still seems somewhat overlooked is NVDA’s commentary on its pipeline. The company noted on its FQ1:26 earnings call that it has visibility into “tens of gigawatts” of AI infrastructure projects in the “not too distant future”. Assuming a “low case” pipeline of 20GW and NVDA’s stated range of ~$40-50B per GW, this puts its total revenue opportunity for this pipeline at a minium of ~$1T. While the company did not specify a timeframe for this pipeline, based on our conversations, we believe these projects are likely to be rolled out over a 2-3 year period. Using the average of this timeframe, this suggests the company may effectively have “visibility” to ~$400B/yr in data center revenue, or about 2x our $233B data center revenue estimate for C2026. This is obviously very heady, but we did note in UBS’ deep dive on OpenAI’s Abilene AI Factory that Crusoe alone has ~20GW in project pipeline and this is just one digital infrastructure project developer. The upshot of this is that we believe investor concerns around growth sustainability should be allayed by some of this commentary from the earnings call.

The math around the rack numbers given on the call

One of the main investor questions we got coming out of the call was what NVDA was trying to imply by the GB200 rack numbers it provided on the call – which were so far above conventional wisdom that it spurred some confusion. The company said “on average major hyperscalers are each deploying nearly 1,000 NVL72 racks or 72,000 Blackwell GPUs per week and are on track to further ramp output this quarter”. Taken at face value, this implies a GPU run rate of nearly 1MM/Q for each hyperscaler – so far above most consensus estimates that it was hard to foot. Therefore, we believe the company was not trying to communicate a revenue “run-rate” but simply trying to reassure investors that GB200 rack issues are resolved and a large quantity of racks are moving from the ODMs and OEMs now to customers – consistent with our commentary into the call that investor concerns about supply chain inventory were overblown. We would not try to do anything more with these numbers as we think the company meant this to be more illustrative than quantitative.

NVLink bolsters growth in Networking.

Networking revenue grew to ~$5B in FQ1:26 (+64% Q/Q), $1B of which NVDA attributed to NVLink revenue which was up substantially Q/Q. We believe this is almost entirely tied to the ramp in shipments of GB200 NVL72 rack scale systems, each of which includes a 72-GPU NVLink domain (vs an up to 8-GPU domain for HGX systems). NVDA is recognizing NVLink revenue separately for these NVL72 systems, which is/was not the case for HGX boards where revenue has been consolidated into the Compute sub-segment of Data Center. As such, we would expect Networking revenue to track more closely to NVL72 rack shipments going forward, albeit maybe with a little bit of a lag.

Gaming growth driven by… gamers.

The sharp improvement in Gaming revenue in FQ1 (up nearly 50% Q/Q and well ahead of expectations) has prompted many investors to question whether there was some component of 50-series RTX cards being pulled into China for AI workload purposes. Though this cannot be completely discounted, we suspect any such pull-in was likely very limited due to: 1) availability of Blackwell-based RTX GPUs being still too limited in the gaming channel to enable larger-scale deployment, 2) RTX 50-series GPUs are PCIe based and do not support NVLink for scale-up, and 3) NVDA had to some degree starved the gaming channel for Blackwell out of the gate as it prioritized capacity for data center applications so the FQ1 (April) growth was driven by back-filling the channel following these severe supply shortages.

Gross margin drivers for 2H.

General improvement in Blackwell profitability and cost downs remain the primary driver to get margins back to the mid-70%s target by FYE26. Part of this, we believe, is GB300 – for which NVDA may actually recognise a small amount of revenue inside of FQ2 with the real ramp being FQ3. Longer-term, we believe pricing to value remains the key function for NVDA’s margins – this comes down to both hardware and the software overlay of which the release of Dynamo at GTC is a prime example (accelerates inference on NVDA hardware by >30x).

Taken together, Nvidia’s earnings, along with expanding visibility into a multi-year AI infrastructure boom via UBS, suggest that this boom is less about product cycles and more about exponential infrastructure scaling. 

Last week, UBS analysts Steven Fisher, Amit Mehrotra, and others noted that the construction boom of AI data centers is not expected to show up in the real economy or provide structural tailwinds until the second quarter of 2026.

“More slowing before reacceleration in 2026,” Fisher wrote in a note, adding, “We expect stimulus and structural forces to drive the rebound, while cyclical factors remain weak.”

Another UBS note outlined the bullish outlook on data center-driven power demand, particularly for natural gas-linked utilities and midstream names.

The AI data center buildout could be viewed as the digital-age cousin of the 1930s “New Deal”—but instead of highways and dams, it’s GPUs and megawatts. It’s reshaping American infrastructure but with Big Tech at the helm.