POLITICO Tech

Former Republican Congressman Will Hurd spent two years on the board of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and is out in a new Op-Ed in Politico magazine warning that AI is too powerful to be left in the hands of a few Silicon Valley players. On POLITICO Tech, Hurd tells host Steven Overly what can be done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Key government programs that subsidize internet access for low-income and rural communities are in jeopardy. And Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), who chairs the Senate’s broadband subcommittee, has been entrenched in the Capitol Hill debate to save them. On POLITICO Tech, Luján tells host Steven Overly what to expect from the bipartisan working group pursuing a solution and why the next several weeks will be crucial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A robocall mimicking the voice of President Joe Biden earlier this week is the latest instance of AI-generated deepfakes invading the campaign trail. But Pindrop CEO Vijay Balasubramaniyan warns these audio dupes could soon erode trust in just about every facet of our lives. On POLITICO Tech, Balasubramaniyan argues voice analysis technology can spot the fakes and makes the case for policymakers to act now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the biggest tech companies at the center of the microchip war between the U.S. and China is actually Dutch. ASML manufactures equipment used by the world’s biggest semiconductor companies, making it the target of U.S. export controls aimed at curtailing Beijing’s tech ambitions. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Pieter Haeck joins host Steven Overly to detail ASML’s geopolitical predicament and the CEO’s message during a recent interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a time when global institutions are under strain, United Nations tech envoy Amandeep Gill says AI has the potential to be an “area of collaboration.” But making sure some nations aren’t left behind will require a new set of incentives for wealthy countries and tech companies. On POLITICO Tech, Gill delves into some of the existential threats around AI and what can be done about them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arizona State is the first university to ink a partnership with OpenAI, bringing a business-grade version of ChatGPT into classrooms and research labs. It marks a major embrace of artificial intelligence at a time when many universities are trepidatious about what it means for the future of learning. On POLITICO Tech, ASU’s enterprise chief information officer, Lev Gonick, tells host Steven Overly why AI will be transformational. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration created a court to hear complaints from European citizens who accuse the U.S. government of unfairly spying on them. It was part of a deal with the European Union that allows companies to freely move customer data across the Atlantic. But privacy advocates are planning to sue -- saying the court is too opaque and fails to uphold EU privacy rights. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Alfred Ng takes us inside Biden’s secret surveillance court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The World Economic Forum has been happening in Davos Switzerland this week – a gathering of the world’s muckety mucks, world leaders and billionaires. The setting is posh, the ski slopes are freshly powdered and the champagne is (presumably) ice cold. New this year? The streets are lined with AI. Stuart Russell, a leading academic in the field of artificial intelligence and at Davos this week, talks with host Steven Overly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Helen Dixon is Europe’s most powerful privacy regulator. As the head of Ireland’s data privacy watchdog, she has overseen the largest investigations to date into tech companies for violations of the EU’s landmark General Data Protection Regulation. But next month, she is leaving the role after nearly a decade. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Clothilde Goujard talks with Dixon on her way out the door. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The growing number of connected devices, many of them now equipped with AI, is putting new demands on the U.S. supply of spectrum. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is implementing a new strategy to prevent a potential crunch. On POLITICO Tech, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson tells host Steven Overly how NTIA is tackling issues related to spectrum and AI accountability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CES is something of a gadget pageant, where companies show off out-there technologies in over-the-top displays. But last week’s annual tech gathering in Las Vegas also offers insight into where consumer technology is headed. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly breaks down some of the weird and wonderful tech trends at CES with Wired’s senior reviews editor, Julian Chokkattu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At CES, no foreign country is better represented than China. It’s second only to the U.S. in the number of companies on display — many of them looking to expand in the U.S. market. Meanwhile, American skepticism of Chinese-made technologies has hit an all-time high. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks U.S. tech competition with Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson, deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger, and Siemens U.S. CEO Barbara Humpton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The complex relationship between technology and mental health has captured increased attention in recent years, especially among regulators, amid rising concerns about the negative effects of social media, video games and artificial intelligence. On POLITICO Tech, the CEO of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Arthur Evans, tells host Steven Overly how to make tech work better for humans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there’s a unifying theme to this year’s CES, it’s that artificial intelligence is everywhere. But the anxiety about what AI means for the future of work has been on display, too. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly discusses how those concerns are being addressed at the world’s largest employer with Walmart executive vice president Dan Bartlett, as well as the labor movement’s outspoken skepticism with Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greetings from Las Vegas! POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly travels to CES this week to explore how the annual gadget pageant reflects many of the big tech debates around privacy, safety and artificial intelligence. On the show today, he gets the download on what to expect from this year’s CES from Consumer Technology Association President and CEO Gary Shapiro and Digital Future Daily author Derek Robertson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are multiple court cases and legal tests that could influence tech regulation for years. The action is everywhere — in state courts, being looked at by federal judges – and of course at the Supreme Court, which is slated to hear two cases with major implications for online speech. Steven Overly talks with Alexandra Reeve Givens, a First Amendment scholar and the president and chief executive officer of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a DC-based nonprofit that advocates for digital rights and freedom of expression. And has filed legal briefs in a number of this year’s big cases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if generative AI could let you chat with doppelgangers of brilliant people, in their words, at any time? POLITICO’s Mohar Chatterjee digs into unnerving experiments from Beijing to Venice Beach to create AI-generated replicas of living human psychologists. Her story shows a policy vacuum around digital consent - and possibly, a new way for experts to imagine influence and legacy in the age of AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are 22 million households enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, each receiving a subsidy from the federal government for their monthly internet bill. But unless Congress acts, the program will soon run out of money. On POLITICO Tech, reporter John Hendel tells host Steven Overly why partisan politics could effectively kill the program, and what that would mean for closing the digital divide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Little federal policymaking is likely to get done in an election year. But that doesn’t mean tech policy will be totally dead in Washington. On POLITICO Tech, Darrell West from the Brookings Institution explains what Congress could actually get done if lawmakers set aside their differences -- again, in an election year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

States passed dozens of new tech laws last year on issues like AI, data privacy and kids’ online safety. Congress… talked about a lot of laws. The University of North Carolina’s Matt Perault expects that dynamic to continue in 2024. On POLITICO Tech, Perault shares predictions for state-level tech policy in the year to come with host Steven Overly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna is both making artificial intelligence and grappling with its effects. In this rebroadcast, Krishna tells host Steven Overly why AI makes must be held accountable and why he’s not exactly worried about AI displacing a bunch of human workers. Politico Tech will be taking a break for the rest of the year and will be back in your feeds on January 2nd, 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has been through his share of tech battles on Capitol Hill — and seen lawmakers fail to implement legislation time and again. Warner outlined his ideas for where Congress should start with AI regulation — ideas that will be worth watching for in the new year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House lawmakers have laid out a lengthy plan for confronting Beijing’s rising tech ambitions. The recommendations come from a bipartisan committee that has spending much of the past year examining fractures in the U.S.-China relationship, and weighing how the U.S. should prepare for a potential future conflict. On POLITICO Tech, the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), tells host Steven Overly what Congress should do next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. Congress is still figuring out how to rein in Big Tech companies. Mark MacCarthy from the Brookings Institution and Georgetown University has a bold idea: create an entirely new tech regulator. It’s a tall ask considering Congress hasn’t passed major tech legislation to date, but on POLITICO Tech, MacCarthy tells host Steven Overly why he thinks it’s necessary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bradley Tusk is a man with many hats: political consultant, venture capitalist, author. His new book, “Obvious in Hindsight,” is a satire about politics and tech, but it's not hard to see the fact through the fiction. On POLITICO Tech, Tusk tells host Steven Overly more about the book, and weighs in on tech fights happening both on and off the page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Crabtree is the assistant secretary for fossil energy and carbon management at the Energy Department -- a position that puts him at the center of the U.S. efforts to promote carbon capture technology. On POLITICO Tech, Crabtree explains the administration’s case for capturing more carbon, despite criticisms from climate activists that it favors the fossil fuel industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The push for technologies that remove carbon from the atmosphere – carbon capture – has been driving a new wedge in the climate fight. And those tensions were on display at COP28 over the past two weeks. On POLITICO Tech, POLITICO energy reporter Zack Colman joins from Dubai to discuss how the geopolitics of climate tech are playing out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The European Union reached a political agreement to regulate artificial intelligence -- a comprehensive law that will set a new global standard. EU parliamentarian Dragos Tudorache returns to POLITICO Tech to take host Steven Overly inside the tense negotiations and explain what the EU AI Act will actually change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Malo Bourgon doesn’t know exactly what existential threats AI poses, but he says we should be preparing for them anyway. Bourgon is the CEO of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute and among those who fear AI could go deeply awry if it falls into the wrong hands. On today’s show, Bourgon tells host Steven Overly what tech restrictions he wants to see in place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spot the robot dog has drawn public backlash for its use by law enforcement. But Robert Playter, the CEO of Spot’s creator, Boston Dynamics, says notions of robots taking over the world are fantasies fueled by fear. On POLITICO Tech, he tells host Steven Overly what the robot future will really look like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The doomsday scenarios about AI run amok garner a lot of attention, but would policymakers be better off focusing on its problems here and now? That’s the case Janet Haven, executive director at Data & Society, makes on today’s POLITICO Tech with host Steven Overly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's an AI firestorm coming next year — and it won’t be in Washington. Look instead to Sacramento. On POLITICO Tech, California politics reporter Jeremy White tells host Steven Overly about the wave of AI legislation coming to the Golden State. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plenty of people have opinions on artificial intelligence -- especially its potential risks and what to do about them. Daniel Colson’s AI Policy Institute has set out to measure those public attitudes through polls. On POLITICO Tech, Colson tells host Steven Overly that there’s bipartisan fear about AI’s destructive potential and argues those results ought to spur regulators into action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have criticized the Biden administration’s digital trade agenda, going so far as to say recent policy decisions are giving China a leg up in the global tech race. On POLITICO Tech, Reps. Darin Lahood (R-Ill.) and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) argue U.S. trade officials must change course in a conversation with host Steven Overly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The big U.N. Climate Change Conference -- COP28 -- is underway in Dubai and the role of emerging technologies in the fight against global warming is likely to be a recurring theme. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly asks Marcene Mitchell of the World Wildlife Fund to expound on the promise and the hype behind these technologies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Abortion access has changed dramatically since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. And the landscape for data privacy protections is changing, too. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly examines the current state of privacy concerns over period-tracking apps and other health data with POLITICO reporter Ruth Reader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The conventional wisdom is that the U.S. and China are battling it out for AI dominance, and that the US has an upper hand when it comes to developing the technology. On POLITICO Tech, Bill Drexel and Hannah Kelley from the Center for a New American Security tell host Steven Overly that China is ahead in one key area: exporting AI around the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Federal Election Commission is often politically gridlocked. Now, there’s growing pressure on the agency to consider rules for political ads that contain AI-generated deepfakes. On POLITICO Tech, Democratic FEC Chair Dara Lindenbaum tells host Steven Overly why those calls for action face a bigger obstacle than partisanship. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was abruptly ousted by the company’s board — until he was brought back days later. The Silicon Valley melodrama revealed tensions over how to manage the future of AI. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly discusses the fallout with Dewey Murdick, executive director at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI-generated deepfakes are expected to disrupt the 2024 election cycle. But Matt Perault and Scott Babwah Brennen at the University of North Carolina’s Center on Technology Policy say some fears are overblown. On POLITICO Tech, they talk with host Steven Overly about the potential problems with and policy fixes for political deepfakes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Ca) is one of the few members of Congress with a background in computer science. But in this rebroadcast from September, he tells Steven Overly why he believes lawmakers don’t need tech expertise to regulate AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former President Barack Obama recently published a short list of articles, podcasts and books that have shaped his views on AI. And among them is a book that was published in September called, “The Coming Wave,” written by Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of Google DeepMind and current CEO of Inflection AI. In this rebroadcast from September, Steven Overly talks with Mustafa Suleyman, the chief executive of Inflection AI and a co-founder of Google DeepMind, who argues there are 10 steps that governments and companies should take to mitigate the most destructive threats posed by artificial intelligence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The writers and actor's strikes may be over, but many of the issues at the center of the strike — including AI — remain ongoing. In this rebroadcast from August, Steven Overly talks with filmmaker Justine Bateman, who predicts expects artificial intelligence will be the harbinger of the end of movies and television as we know it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence is already reshaping the world’s power centers, from how governments operate to how industry and advocates wield influence. On POLITICO Tech, Penta Group partner Andrea Christianson tells host Steven Overly why the public affairs firm is fully embracing generative AI — and what restrictions it’s had to put in place. Steven Overly is the host of the POLITICO Tech podcast. Nirmal Mulaikal is a POLITICO audio host-producer. Kara Tabor is an audio producer for POLITICO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lobbying on AI is booming on K Street, with influencers around Washington selling themselves as AI experts who can help companies navigate how Congress and the Biden administration will tackle the hot topic in town. Hailey Fuchs talks with host Steven Overly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.K. tech secretary Michelle Donelan makes a return visit to POLITICO Tech, this time during a U.S. visit that includes stops in Washington, Seattle and San Francisco. She tells host Steven Overly how the U.S. and U.K. will join forces to combat the risks of artificial intelligence, and offers advice for U.S. policymakers on both AI and online safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden is slated to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday in San Francisco. It’s their first face-to-face meeting in a year, and comes amid ever-escalating tensions over tech issues like AI and microchips. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly asks Xiaomeng Lu of the Eurasia Group to outline expectations for the meeting -- and whether major resolutions are likely. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google sued on Monday to stop unidentified scammers from using a fake version of its AI chatbot to spread malware. The company sees the case as an example of how it protects consumers. But the liability that Google will assume? That’s another matter. On POLITICO Tech, Google general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado joins host Steven Overly to talk about AI and legal responsibility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the hours after Hamas waged its deadly Oct. 7th assault on Israel, the country came under a different type of attack: cyber attacks. On POLITICO Tech, Atlantic Council security research fellow Ruslan Trad explains why the barrage of hackers targeting Israel is different from past conflicts -- and what they seem to really want. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s been a lot of attention this week on Arturo Béjar, the latest whistleblower to come forward with concerns about how Meta handles online content aimed at children. He testified before the Senate earlier this week, and he’s been cooperating with investigations brought by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general. On Politico Tech today, he talks with Rebecca Kern and Steven Overly about why now was the right time to come forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices