Aren’t there two “why now?”s here? One is: “Why did someone tip the NYT off?” And the other is: “Why did the US government confirm the spy allegations?”

I don’t think we know that either is even true in the sense that there wasn’t any prior tipping that just didn’t get the follow up. If someone forced me to guess, then: a) there likely where tips before. But b) the Trump government didn’t want that story out there and c) the feeling towards NVIDIA was strictly positive (~the one company earning honest money)

Both b) and c) changed recently. There is much more public opposition to the AI buildout today than even half a year ago and the midterms dealt a significant blow to Silicon Valley’s influence in Washington

But the affair wasn’t particularly private, given the social media posts about their appearances together, was it?