Ever since it became clear that Kamala Harris would be the Democratic nominee, there’s been speculation about whether she will continue the Biden administration’s crackdown on big tech companies. In particular, questions about how she will handle ongoing antitrust investigations and lawsuits. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Josh Sisco joins host Steven Overly to discuss the Harris antitrust agenda and why it has both the tech industry’s friends and critics on edge. Steven Overly is the host of POLITI...
Oct 02, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, we’re talking California. Specifically, Governor Gavin Newsom’s veto of California’s sweeping AI bill that was meant to impose safety vetting requirements for powerful AI models. California reporters Lara Korte and Jeremy White chat with Annie Rees about what happened and what’s ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 01, 2024•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast What does the future of war look like? That’s a big question — and one that POLITICO reporter Mohar Chatterjee asked Pentagon’s AI chief Radha Plumb. She spoke to Mohar about the Pentagon's massive backend AI overhaul, how the agency’s innovation approach stacks up against China’s, and the ethics of using AI in battle. Mohar Chatterjee is an technology reporter for POLITICO. Annie Rees is the managing producer for audio at POLITICO. Afra Abdullah is a POLITICO audio producer. Learn more about yo...
Sep 30, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Electric vehicles are transforming Georgia’s economy with billions of dollars in clean tech investments and jobs, but local voters aren’t interested in buying the new vehicles. That presents a unique political problem for Democrats and Republicans this election season and prompts questions about Americans’ attitudes toward new climate technologies. On POLITICO Tech, David Ferris from POLITICO’s E&E News breaks down Georgia’s EV identity crisis and what that means for the 2024 presidential race. ...
Sep 27, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast How does the Biden administration break up with certain Chinese tech supply chains without severing trade ties with China? That's a question we're watching play out right now. Jon Bateman, the co-director of the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote a report in 2022 that remains a key document in unpacking the challenges of technological decoupling with China — and in today's episode of POLITICO Tech, he talks with POLITICO's D.C.-b...
Sep 26, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast When Donald Trump was first elected to the White House, he tapped a young and relatively unknown guy named Michael Kratsios to be the nation’s chief technology officer. Today, Kratsios is back outside politics, working as the managing director at the company Scale AI. At Politico’s AI and Tech Summit last week, he spoke with POLITCO’s global tech editor Steve Heuser. They talked about what Trump’s tech policy might look like in a second term, and why he thinks Vance will be a champion for “littl...
Sep 25, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marietje Schaake thinks Silicon Valley has pulled off a major power grab, taking on decisions that were once made by elected leaders and democratic governments. A former EU parliamentarian now at Stanford, Schaake outlines the problems posed by tech’s growing influence over our daily lives in a new book, “The Tech Coup.” On POLITICO Tech, Schaake joins host Steven Overly to explain what governments can do to take back their power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 24, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast There’s growing concern among global leaders that artificial intelligence will be controlled only by the wealthiest nations — the same nations that control most of the technology today. Eurasia Group founder and president Ian Bremmer serves on the UN’s AI advisory body and co-authored a report outlining ideas for making AI more equitable. On POLITICO Tech, Bremmer tells host Steven Overly what he thinks a new international AI order should look like and why it’s key to addressing one of the bigge...
Sep 23, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast The UN General Assembly kicks off this weekend and world leaders are expected to have tech top of mind. Google CEO Sundar Pichai will be there, making a rare, high-profile speech where he’s expected to urge world leaders to work together. Ahead of his address, POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly talked with Karan Bhatia, Google’s global head of government affairs and public policy, about Google’s AI message to the world, the regulations it can live with and whether its antitrust trials are hamperin...
Sep 20, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast POLITICO held its AI and Tech Summit earlier this week, where host Steven Overly sat down with Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar. On today’s episode, we air that conversation. Klobuchar is one of the Senate’s leading Democratic voices warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence this election cycle; and as Senate Rules Committee chair, she introduced legislation that would ban AI deepfakes of candidates and require disclaimers for political ads made with AI. But with the election now week...
Sep 19, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) is helping set the House’s artificial intelligence agenda as co-chair of a bipartisan task force in the House. That includes more than a dozen AI-related bills he thinks the lower chamber can pass this year. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly sat down with Obernolte at POLITICO’s AI & Tech Summit this week for a live taping of the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 18, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Bradley Tusk started his career in government before making big bucks in tech and venture capital. He’s now pouring millions of dollars into building and testing technology that would allow people to cast votes from a smartphone. On POLITICO Tech, Tusk joins host Steven Overly to discuss his new book, “Vote With Your Phone,” and lay out his case for why mobile voting can save democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 17, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast False promises of a high-tech future that’s good for humanity have allowed Silicon Valley to hoodwink policymakers and the public, argues cognitive scientist and tech critic Gary Marcus. And with the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, Marcus says it’s more urgent than ever for governments to rein the industry in. On today’s POLITICO Tech, Marcus joins host Steven Overly to discuss ideas for how to do that from his new book, “Taming Silicon Valley.” Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
Sep 16, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Washington isn’t poised to pass major AI legislation. Ottawa isn’t either. So Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, one of the “godfathers” of artificial intelligence, is looking to Sacramento. He’s urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign an AI safety bill by month’s end — and facing off against influential tech executives who want it killed. On today’s POLITICO Tech, Bengio explains why he thinks California needs to regulate now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...
Sep 13, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Students in Florida, Indiana and Ohio returned to the classroom this fall with new restrictions on cellphones. It's part of a crackdown on screen time and social media by school administrators and political leaders who fear the technology is harmful to students' learning and mental health. On POLITICO Tech, Stanford professor and former schoolteacher Antero Garcia joins host Steven Overly to explain why he thinks such bans are bad policy — and bound to fail. Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...
Sep 12, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Former President Donald Trump plans to tap tech billionaire Elon Musk to lead a new government efficiency commission if elected in November. But it’s a post that would raise conflicts of interest with Musk’s day jobs running Tesla, SpaceX and X, formerly known as Twitter. On POLITICO Tech, Danielle Brian from the Project on Government Oversight joins host Steven Overly to discuss the ethical concerns at play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 11, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Police officers routinely write reports after traffic stops, robberies and other daily encounters. And increasingly, they’re using artificial intelligence software from police technology company Axon to do it. But POLITICO reporter Alfred Ng found department policies for labeling which reports are AI generated are inconsistent. On POLITICO Tech, Ng breaks down some of the legal and ethical questions the criminal justice system has to sort out as a result. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
Sep 10, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russia’s latest effort to meddle in American politics involved a scheme centered on conservative internet influencers in the U.S., the Justice Department revealed recently. It’s yet another sign that the interplay between foreign and domestic disinformation campaigns is as tight as ever. On POLITICO Tech, Bret Schafer from the Alliance for Securing Democracy joins host Steven Overly to break down how that complicates tech companies’ efforts to fight back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
Sep 09, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast The California legislature passed a sweeping AI safety bill over the opposition of tech industry lobbyists. Now, whether it actually becomes law will depend on Gov. Gavin Newsom. And he has until month’s end to sign or veto it. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Jeremy White joins host Steven Overly to explain who has the most influence on Newsom’s decisions and why it could affect AI regulation in Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 06, 2024•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) stepped onto the House floor in July and became the first person to address Congress using artificial intelligence. Wexton was diagnosed last year with an aggressive and incurable brain disease called progressive supranuclear palsy that, among other symptoms, has made her natural speaking voice weaker and less clear. So she turned to an AI replica. On POLITICO Tech, Wexton joins host Steven Overly to talk about using an AI-generated voice, and how her experience has ...
Sep 05, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast An investment fund for tech startups helping Republicans to win elections has put less money into fewer companies than its Democratic rival. (We talked to them a few episodes back, go give it a listen.) But Eric Wilson, the managing partner at Startup Caucus, contends that doesn’t mean the GOP is behind. On POLITICO Tech, Wilson tells host Steven Overly why Republican campaigns are less reliant on technology than Democrats, at least for now, and how that’s going to change. Learn more about your ...
Sep 04, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast With the presidential election just two months away, this is prime disinformation season. The period immediately before and after Election Day is when administrators worry most about campaigns to deceive voters. On POLITICO Tech, Darrell West from the Brookings Institution joins host Steven Overly to discuss the new book “Lies That Kill” and how people can protect themselves from online disinformation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 03, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast The tech industry may not be the voting bloc that will matter most come November, but the grassroots group Tech4Kamala is hoping to drown out the billionaire executives backing former President Donald Trump with a groundswell of support from entrepreneurs and workers. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly sits down with Tech4Kamala co-founder Shannon Nash at the Democratic National Convention to talk about the Silicon Valley divide and why she sees Harris as the most tech-friendly candidate. Lear...
Aug 23, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Political campaigns are increasingly powered by artificial intelligence, using the technology for behind-the-scenes tasks like writing fundraising emails or social media posts. And in tight races, the best technology (used the right way) can make a big difference. That idea motivated Betsy Hoover and other Democratic campaign veterans to start Higher Ground Labs, a venture fund for left-leaning startups. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly spoke with Hoover on the sidelines of the Democratic Na...
Aug 22, 2024•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Content creators are all over the Democratic National Convention — from the main stage to the “blue carpet” — as the Harris campaign looks to reach young voters through their social media channels. On today’s POLITICO Tech podcast, Steven talks to influencer Olivia Julianna and creator economy expert Lia Haberman about how this new corps of creators are reshaping the way people engage with political news and information online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 21, 2024•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast As a former Trump administration official, Adam Candeub was deeply involved in the conservative fight with tech companies over online speech. And since leaving Washington, Candeub has continued that fight at the state level. On POLITICO Tech, Candeub joins host Steven Overly to explain why he thinks returning former President Donald Trump to the White House is vital to free speech and what he should tackle first. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 20, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Justice Department has been taking victory laps ever since a judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly in online search. Now, the legal battle enters a new phase as the court figures out what to do about it. Doha Mekki, the DOJ’s principal deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust, has been a central player in building the case against Google. On POLITICO Tech, she joins host Steven Overly and reporter Josh Sisco to discuss the latest ruling and what it means going forward. Learn...
Aug 19, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Biden administration, Congress and American companies are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into small nuclear reactors, which are considered more compact, cheaper and potentially safer than larger traditional nuclear plants. The hope is that these new plants could help reenergize America’s nuclear fleet, but so far, not a single small nuclear reactor plant is operational in the country. Today, guest host Josh Siegel sits down with Jake DeWitte, the CEO of Oklo, a Silicon Valley-based ...
Aug 16, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many car companies collect data about your habits behind the wheel. But selling it? That's a new problem. In a lawsuit earlier this week, Texas accused General Motors of selling that information to third parties, including insurance companies, all while deceiving millions of drivers about how their information was collected and used. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Alfred Ng tells host Steven Overly why the case in Texas may be a harbinger of more legal fights to come. Learn more about your ad choice...
Aug 15, 2024•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hackers infiltrated the Trump campaign and made off with sensitive documents, a major breach that is now under investigation by the FBI. The ordeal is reminiscent of the 2016 election, when Russian hackers hit the campaign of then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Michael Kaiser is the CEO of Defending Digital Campaigns, a nonpartisan organization that provides campaigns with cybersecurity software. On POLITICO Tech, Kaiser tells host Steven Overly why these risks persist even as campaigns get...
Aug 14, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
