The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to force a sale, and perhaps eventually a ban, of the video sharing app TikTok. But many hurdles remain before that becomes a reality. And the drama surrounding the legislation reveals just how convoluted TikTok politics have become. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly breaks down what will likely happen next with national security lawyer and former Commerce Department official Nazak Nikakhtar.
South By Southwest took over Austin. The annual tech and entertainment festival attracts an eccentric crowd, which this year includes a strong contingent of Washington policymakers and U.S. defense officials. Digital Future Daily author Derek Robertson joins POLITICO Tech from Texas to explain how AI and politics have made a splash at the gathering.
The rise in online disinformation has forced political campaigns to develop a new playbook. Journalist Sasha Issenberg tackles that subject in his new book, “The Lie Detectives.” He joins POLITICO Tech to break down lessons from the front lines of the 2020 election and how campaigns are applying them this time around.
The Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, has long been a rite of passage for students applying to college in the U.S. Now, the test has undergone a digital transformation that became official over the weekend. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks through the technological challenges posed by an electronic test and how its administrator has tried to overcome them with the College Board’s Priscilla Rodriguez.
Generative artificial intelligence is transforming the way students learn to read and write. To understand how, POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly called up California high school teacher Daniel Herman. Herman’s students are using AI today -- and he believes the technology will fundamentally change English class as we know it.
President Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union address tonight. And while tech probably won’t dominate the speech, Biden could mention issues like AI, microchips and competition with China. MIT fellow R. David Edelman contributed to State of the Union speeches during his time as a tech adviser to President Barack Obama. On POLITICO Tech, Edelman tells host Steven Overly what goes into the big address and what Biden might say.
Israel is using artificial intelligence to identify strike targets in Gaza as it goes after Hamas following the Oct. 7 attacks. Critics are now pressing for details on the technology as the death toll surpasses 30,000 Palestinians. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Joseph Gedeon joins host Steven Overly to explain how AI is being used today and how defense officials expect it to remain a fixture of conflicts to come.
It’s Super Tuesday — and President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are expected to be the big winners. But the digital campaign is not exactly a 2020 rematch. On POLITICO Tech, Republican digital strategist Eric Wilson dives into how the 2024 cycle looks different online and who seems to be coming out ahead with host Steven Overly.
The Biden administration escalated its tech war with China last week, taking a pair of actions aimed at cracking down on Beijing’s access to data on Americans. Ben Buchanan, the White House special adviser on artificial intelligence, tells host Steven Overly why these latest actions are necessary and how they fit into the president’s AI agenda.
In the two years since the invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. has tried to cut off Russia’s access to microchips and other technology that helps its war effort. But Moscow has proven resilient — and continues to circumvent trade restrictions with the help of its neighbors. On POLITICO Tech, Max Bergmann from the Center for Strategic and International Studies explains how Russia is pulling it off and what more the Biden administration can do.
A new report out today shows that tech experts and the general public don’t see eye to eye on some of the biggest risks posed by artificial intelligence. Lee Rainie from Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center tells host Steven Overly how that disconnect could complicate Washington’s efforts to regulate the fast-moving technology.
Steven Overly interviews journalist Byron Tau about his newly published book, “Means of Control,” which details how he came to learn that a trove of personal information was being peddled to federal agencies by an opaque network of government contractors.
At least two lawmakers in the European Parliament have found spyware on their phones. This is a major breach, especially since both members sit on the defense subcommittee. And it shows serious cybersecurity risks as the EU prepares for elections in June. On the show today, Steven talks with POLITICO EU colleague Antoaneta Roussi — who broke this story in a rather unusual way — about the reckoning it’s causing in Brussels.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in two lawsuits today -- the outcomes of which could shape the way governments regulate social media. At issue are laws in Texas and Florida that put restrictions on how platforms like Facebook, YouTube and X police online material. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks to Carl Szabo, the general counsel at NetChoice, a tech association challenging the social media laws in Texas and Florida.
The Department of Homeland Security has an enormous footprint. Everything from policing the southern border to processing visas for high skilled immigrants, Investigations into child sexual material online, domestic security threats, and election security. So how DHS brings AI to bear is going to have an outsized impact on the American people, And behind those decisions at DHS is Eric Hysen. On today's episode, Mohar Chatterjee talks with Eric Hysen, chief AI officer at the Department of Homelan...
Washington is in the midst of its first real crackdown on AI-generated deepfakes, as federal agencies take action to combat robocalls, election misinformation and fraud. But will it be enough? Public Citizen CEO Robert Weissman tackles that question with host Steven Overly on today’s POLITICO Tech.
A Michigan company called Hemlock Semiconductor got the red carpet treatment from President Joe Biden back in 2022. As Biden stood outside the White House, he pledged the CHIPS and Science Act would support Hemlock and other suppliers. But things haven’t fully panned out that way for Hemlock. Other companies similarly argue that Biden’s landmark CHIPS and Science Act should provide more money for microchip suppliers -- otherwise, it risks falling short on his national security goals, ultimately ...
John Matze is the former CEO of Parler. You might recall, that’s the social media app that became a favorite for far-right personalities spreading conspiracies during the 2020 election. And he was fired in the wake of the Jan. 6th insurrection, an attack he said at the time was not Parler’s fault. Now, John is trying for a second act with a new app that’s part social media, part news aggregator. On POLITICO Tech, John tells host Steven Overly what he learned from his handling of the last electio...
Tech companies worldwide have laid off nearly 35,000 workers so far this year, adding to the worst stretch of job cuts the industry has seen in decades. In the U.S., cities dependent on the tech sector like Seattle and San Francisco are among the hardest hit. On POLITICO Tech, University of Washington professor Jeff Shulman joins host Steven Overly to explore the economic and political impact of tech’s big layoffs.
President Joe Biden officially joined TikTok this week -- a surprise that may have delighted no one more than TikTok itself. The video sharing app has been sharply criticized in Washington over supposed ties to China, and the Biden campaign’s decision to sign up marks a political win. But how should Biden actually use the platform? On POLITICO Tech, reporters Hailey Fuchs and Rachel Janfaza help us take a scroll through Biden’s TikTok.
The U.K.’s Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Bim Afolami, is making a swing through the U.S. and Canada this week, pitching his home country as a hub for crypto and fintech. Afolami sat down with POLITICO Tech ahead of meetings in Washington to discuss transatlantic crypto regulation, and told host Steven Overly that he doesn’t expect the U.K. and U.S. to see eye-to-eye on rules. In fact, he expects to compete over them.
A series of recent headlines about politicians using AI-generated deepfakes of themselves got us thinking the gray areas in how artificial intelligence can be used on the campaign trail. In Indonesia, the front runner for president is a military general using an AI-generated cartoon as his campaign image. And in Pakistan, the former prime minister used an AI-generated video to declare victory — from prison. On the show today, Katie Harbath, who spent a decade on Facebook’s public policy team man...
Artificial intelligence alone cannot be considered as an inventor, but the humans who use it can be. That’s according to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office guidelines put out this morning. On POLITICO Tech, the agency’s director, Kathi Vidal, joins host Steven Overly to discuss the new rules and the role for human creation in an AI world.
The Senate’s bipartisan border deal met a rapid demise this week, But tucked inside the proposal was hundreds of millions of dollars for new technology along the U.S. southern border. Border security technology is increasingly sophisticated, and also increasingly contentious. On POLITICO Tech, Theresa Cardinal Brown from the Bipartisan Policy Center delves into the state of border technology and its partisan politics.
Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio has been dubbed one of the “godfathers of AI,” but he’s not exactly thrilled about the title. Bengio devoted most of his professional life to making AI smarter. But now, he wants to prevent AI from destroying humanity. On POLITICO Tech, Bengio tells host Steven Overly about his professional pivot and what policy changes he’s pushing for around the world.
More newsrooms are embracing generative artificial intelligence, even as it raises troubling questions about journalism’s future. On POLITICO Tech, the Knight Foundation’s Marc Lavallee tells host Steven Overly how bots are likely disrupt the news business and what that means for news consumers like you.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency became a conservative target in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. Now, those same politician tensions are causing some private sector experts to retreat from a key program meant to defend U.S. infrastructure against hackers. On POLITICO Tech, reporter John Sakellariadis delves into the partisan politics that is undermining U.S. cybersecurity.
There’s a new front in the fight against online child sexual abuse: AI-generated child porn. Emily Slifer is the policy director at Thorn, a nonprofit that develops technology to detect and remove such content. And she warns policymakers and tech companies must act now before the problem explodes. On POLITICO Tech, Slifer and host Steven Overly discuss who shoulders the burden, and the blame, for combating AI-generated child porn.
For decades, U.S. agriculture industries have advertised products through quasi-government programs. (Think “Got Milk?” and “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner.”) Now, those marketing campaigns are getting a revamp for the social media era -- and that’s causing tension among American farmers and advocates. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Marcia Brown breaks down an atypical tech story about the controversial rise of the new food influencer.
Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s top tech regulator, is busier than ever — contending with antitrust cases, internet regulations and, soon, artificial intelligence rules. And yet, her tenure is almost up. Unless she’s chosen for a third term, Vestager will leave the European Commission later this year just as its most consequential tech laws are getting started. On POLITICO Tech, Vestager delves into the EU’s AI ambitions, her Silicon Valley crackdown and her hopes to stay a...
