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2 episodes with adam thierer
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Innovation policy analyst Adam Thierer joins Jordana.
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In Episode 129 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan sits down with returning guest Adam Thierer, Resident Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation at the R Street Institute, to break down the surge of state by state AI laws and why a patchwork approach could slow innovation, especially in healthcare. Adam explains how more than a thousand state AI bills are flooding the zone, what types of “everything bills” are emerging, and why some states are trying to set national standards from Albany or Sacramento. Joe and Adam connect the federalism debate to real world health innovation, including mental health chatbots, algorithmic discrimination laws, and why compliance costs hit “little tech” hardest. They also discuss Adam's “AI Articles of Confederation” framing, the failed effort to create a federal moratorium on state AI rules, and what a better model could look like, such as regulatory inventories, learning labs, and sandbox style approaches that allow experimentation without shutting innovation down. Key link: https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/congress-should-lead-on-ai-policy-not-the-states/ In This Conversation Why state AI bills are accelerating and what is driving them “Mega measures” that try to regulate frontier models, child safety, jobs, and copyright in one bill New York and California style rulemaking with national spillover The Micron example and how permitting and lawsuits can stop progress Algorithmic discrimination laws and why healthcare gets hit hardest Mental health chatbot bans and the access and workforce tradeoffs Preemption and why Congress keeps punting Alternative models: inventories, learning labs, sandboxes, and targeted gap fixes Timestamps0:00 What is happening with state AI bills right now1:36 Adam's background and how he got into AI policy5:55 The shift from federal regulation to state action10:27 What these state bills try to regulate13:29 Micron, permitting delays, and stopping progress20:00 Why some red states are pushing AI Bills of Rights26:24 “AI Articles of Confederation” and why it matters31:01 The attempted moratorium in the “big, beautiful bill”38:03 Preview of “The AI Terrible Ten” and worst state models39:43 Mental health chatbot bans and the mental health crisis44:25 What governors should do instead of rushing to regulate49:05 What Adam is tracking next51:48 What AI tools Adam uses52:42 Where to find Adam's work SEO Keywordsstate AI laws, AI policy, federal preemption, healthcare innovation, algorithmic discrimination, mental health chatbots, interoperability, AI regulation About Our GuestAdam Thierer is a Resident Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute focused on technology and innovation policy. He writes and speaks widely on AI governance, federalism and preemption, and how regulatory models can either accelerate or stall innovation, including in healthcare. Podcast: DC EKG with Joe GroganEpisode: 129Guest: Adam Thierer, Resident Senior Fellow, Technology and Innovation, R Street InstituteSponsor: Survivors for Solutions – https://survivorsforsolutions.orgExecutive Producer: John “CZ” Czwartacki, DC EKG PodcastProducer: Julie Riga, Stay on Course Studios – https://www.stayoncourse.studio
In Episode 129 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan sits down with returning guest Adam Thierer, Resident Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation at the R Street Institute, to break down the surge of state by state AI laws and why a patchwork approach could slow innovation, especially in healthcare. Adam explains how more than a thousand state AI bills are flooding the zone, what types of “everything bills” are emerging, and why some states are trying to set national standards from Albany or Sacramento. Joe and Adam connect the federalism debate to real world health innovation, including mental health chatbots, algorithmic discrimination laws, and why compliance costs hit “little tech” hardest. They also discuss Adam's “AI Articles of Confederation” framing, the failed effort to create a federal moratorium on state AI rules, and what a better model could look like, such as regulatory inventories, learning labs, and sandbox style approaches that allow experimentation without shutting innovation down. Key link: https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/congress-should-lead-on-ai-policy-not-the-states/ In This Conversation Why state AI bills are accelerating and what is driving them “Mega measures” that try to regulate frontier models, child safety, jobs, and copyright in one bill New York and California style rulemaking with national spillover The Micron example and how permitting and lawsuits can stop progress Algorithmic discrimination laws and why healthcare gets hit hardest Mental health chatbot bans and the access and workforce tradeoffs Preemption and why Congress keeps punting Alternative models: inventories, learning labs, sandboxes, and targeted gap fixes Timestamps0:00 What is happening with state AI bills right now1:36 Adam's background and how he got into AI policy5:55 The shift from federal regulation to state action10:27 What these state bills try to regulate13:29 Micron, permitting delays, and stopping progress20:00 Why some red states are pushing AI Bills of Rights26:24 “AI Articles of Confederation” and why it matters31:01 The attempted moratorium in the “big, beautiful bill”38:03 Preview of “The AI Terrible Ten” and worst state models39:43 Mental health chatbot bans and the mental health crisis44:25 What governors should do instead of rushing to regulate49:05 What Adam is tracking next51:48 What AI tools Adam uses52:42 Where to find Adam's work SEO Keywordsstate AI laws, AI policy, federal preemption, healthcare innovation, algorithmic discrimination, mental health chatbots, interoperability, AI regulation About Our GuestAdam Thierer is a Resident Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute focused on technology and innovation policy. He writes and speaks widely on AI governance, federalism and preemption, and how regulatory models can either accelerate or stall innovation, including in healthcare. Podcast: DC EKG with Joe GroganEpisode: 129Guest: Adam Thierer, Resident Senior Fellow, Technology and Innovation, R Street InstituteSponsor: Survivors for Solutions – https://survivorsforsolutions.orgExecutive Producer: John “CZ” Czwartacki, DC EKG PodcastProducer: Julie Riga, Stay on Course Studios – https://www.stayoncourse.studio
AI is racing ahead. Regulation? Not so much. Kevin Williamson talks with Adam Thierer, senior fellow at the R Street Institute, about the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence. They dive into the policy fights shaping its future, the role of Big Tech, and how AI could reshape global competition. The Agenda:—Defining AI—Hardware vs. software—Economic and geopolitical implications of AI—Job replacement concerns—Tech skeptics Show Notes:—Defending Technological Dynamism & The Freedom to Innovate in the Age of AI The Dispatch Podcast is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch's offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you'd like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Two years ago, policymakers floated a global AI pause, some even suggested bombing data centers to stop progress. Today, the U.S. is pulling back from the brink.Adam Thierer, author of Permissionless Innovation and Evasive Entrepreneurs, joins Niklas to unpack:* How the “war on computation” began and the moment the tide turned* Why sectors “born free” explode with innovation, while “born in captivity” stay stuck* The explosion of 1,000+ AI-related bills across U.S. states and the risk of a regulatory maze* The strange alliance between the far left and far right to slow progress* Why AI could be the ultimate technology of freedom or a tool for repression* Why compared to 2 years ago there are reasons to be more optimistic now.If you're building in AI, biotech, or any frontier space, this is your field guide to defending the right to build.More about Adam's work:* Adam's X* Medium* Amazon BooksExplore Infinita City:* Explore the Archive: The Infinita City Times* Visit Infinita City* Join the Builders' Hub on Telegram* Follow Infinita City on X This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.infinitacitytimes.com
In this episode of In AI We Trust?, cohosts Miriam Vogel and Nuala O'Connor are joined by Adam Thierer, resident senior fellow @ R Street's Tech & Innovation team. Adam weighs in on the Trump Administration's AI Action Plan, the importance of Congress in developing AI policy, and existing legal principles and practices that help define the new digital and AI age. They focused on the mandate for AI literacy, as well as the necessity of AI technologies being regulated in a transparent and trustworthy way that end users, and particularly consumers, can understand.
Interview with Board Member of Cloudflare, John Graham-Cumming My Couples Retreat With 3 AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them Two Judges, Same District, Opposite Conclusions: The Messy Reality Of AI Training Copyright Cases How I Use AI To Help With Techdirt (And, No, It's Not Writing Articles) Google launches Doppl, a new app that lets you visualize how an outfit might look on you The Internet Needs Sex Senate drops plan to ban state AI laws Adam Thierer reacts Denmark To Tackle Deepfakes By Giving People Copyright To Their Own Features - Slashdot The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners People are using AI to 'sit' with them while they trip on psychedelics China hosts first fully autonomous AI robot football match AI virtual personality YouTubers, or 'VTubers,' are earning millions AI helps find formula for paint to keep buildings cooler Microsoft's New AI Tool Outperforms Doctors 4-to-1 in Diagnostic Accuracy - Slashdot It's Known as 'The List'—and It's a Secret File of AI Geniuses The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence We used Veo to animate archive photography from the Harley-Davidson Museum G/O Media Winds Down by Selling Kotaku, One of Its Last Sites Roadside America Dot Com Cluely pitches itself as undectable AI Lorde's new album: Virgin AI recipe creation Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Guest: John Graham-Cumming Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: helixsleep.com/twit smarty.com/twit agntcy.org
Interview with Board Member of Cloudflare, John Graham-Cumming My Couples Retreat With 3 AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them Two Judges, Same District, Opposite Conclusions: The Messy Reality Of AI Training Copyright Cases How I Use AI To Help With Techdirt (And, No, It's Not Writing Articles) Google launches Doppl, a new app that lets you visualize how an outfit might look on you The Internet Needs Sex Senate drops plan to ban state AI laws Adam Thierer reacts Denmark To Tackle Deepfakes By Giving People Copyright To Their Own Features - Slashdot The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners People are using AI to 'sit' with them while they trip on psychedelics China hosts first fully autonomous AI robot football match AI virtual personality YouTubers, or 'VTubers,' are earning millions AI helps find formula for paint to keep buildings cooler Microsoft's New AI Tool Outperforms Doctors 4-to-1 in Diagnostic Accuracy - Slashdot It's Known as 'The List'—and It's a Secret File of AI Geniuses The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence We used Veo to animate archive photography from the Harley-Davidson Museum G/O Media Winds Down by Selling Kotaku, One of Its Last Sites Roadside America Dot Com Cluely pitches itself as undectable AI Lorde's new album: Virgin AI recipe creation Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Guest: John Graham-Cumming Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: helixsleep.com/twit smarty.com/twit agntcy.org
Interview with Board Member of Cloudflare, John Graham-Cumming My Couples Retreat With 3 AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them Two Judges, Same District, Opposite Conclusions: The Messy Reality Of AI Training Copyright Cases How I Use AI To Help With Techdirt (And, No, It's Not Writing Articles) Google launches Doppl, a new app that lets you visualize how an outfit might look on you The Internet Needs Sex Senate drops plan to ban state AI laws Adam Thierer reacts Denmark To Tackle Deepfakes By Giving People Copyright To Their Own Features - Slashdot The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners People are using AI to 'sit' with them while they trip on psychedelics China hosts first fully autonomous AI robot football match AI virtual personality YouTubers, or 'VTubers,' are earning millions AI helps find formula for paint to keep buildings cooler Microsoft's New AI Tool Outperforms Doctors 4-to-1 in Diagnostic Accuracy - Slashdot It's Known as 'The List'—and It's a Secret File of AI Geniuses The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence We used Veo to animate archive photography from the Harley-Davidson Museum G/O Media Winds Down by Selling Kotaku, One of Its Last Sites Roadside America Dot Com Cluely pitches itself as undectable AI Lorde's new album: Virgin AI recipe creation Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Guest: John Graham-Cumming Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: helixsleep.com/twit smarty.com/twit agntcy.org
Interview with Board Member of Cloudflare, John Graham-Cumming My Couples Retreat With 3 AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them Two Judges, Same District, Opposite Conclusions: The Messy Reality Of AI Training Copyright Cases How I Use AI To Help With Techdirt (And, No, It's Not Writing Articles) Google launches Doppl, a new app that lets you visualize how an outfit might look on you The Internet Needs Sex Senate drops plan to ban state AI laws Adam Thierer reacts Denmark To Tackle Deepfakes By Giving People Copyright To Their Own Features - Slashdot The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners People are using AI to 'sit' with them while they trip on psychedelics China hosts first fully autonomous AI robot football match AI virtual personality YouTubers, or 'VTubers,' are earning millions AI helps find formula for paint to keep buildings cooler Microsoft's New AI Tool Outperforms Doctors 4-to-1 in Diagnostic Accuracy - Slashdot It's Known as 'The List'—and It's a Secret File of AI Geniuses The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence We used Veo to animate archive photography from the Harley-Davidson Museum G/O Media Winds Down by Selling Kotaku, One of Its Last Sites Roadside America Dot Com Cluely pitches itself as undectable AI Lorde's new album: Virgin AI recipe creation Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Guest: John Graham-Cumming Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: helixsleep.com/twit smarty.com/twit agntcy.org
Interview with Board Member of Cloudflare, John Graham-Cumming My Couples Retreat With 3 AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them Two Judges, Same District, Opposite Conclusions: The Messy Reality Of AI Training Copyright Cases How I Use AI To Help With Techdirt (And, No, It's Not Writing Articles) Google launches Doppl, a new app that lets you visualize how an outfit might look on you The Internet Needs Sex Senate drops plan to ban state AI laws Adam Thierer reacts Denmark To Tackle Deepfakes By Giving People Copyright To Their Own Features - Slashdot The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners People are using AI to 'sit' with them while they trip on psychedelics China hosts first fully autonomous AI robot football match AI virtual personality YouTubers, or 'VTubers,' are earning millions AI helps find formula for paint to keep buildings cooler Microsoft's New AI Tool Outperforms Doctors 4-to-1 in Diagnostic Accuracy - Slashdot It's Known as 'The List'—and It's a Secret File of AI Geniuses The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence We used Veo to animate archive photography from the Harley-Davidson Museum G/O Media Winds Down by Selling Kotaku, One of Its Last Sites Roadside America Dot Com Cluely pitches itself as undectable AI Lorde's new album: Virgin AI recipe creation Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Guest: John Graham-Cumming Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: helixsleep.com/twit smarty.com/twit agntcy.org
Interview with Board Member of Cloudflare, John Graham-Cumming My Couples Retreat With 3 AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them Two Judges, Same District, Opposite Conclusions: The Messy Reality Of AI Training Copyright Cases How I Use AI To Help With Techdirt (And, No, It's Not Writing Articles) Google launches Doppl, a new app that lets you visualize how an outfit might look on you The Internet Needs Sex Senate drops plan to ban state AI laws Adam Thierer reacts Denmark To Tackle Deepfakes By Giving People Copyright To Their Own Features - Slashdot The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners People are using AI to 'sit' with them while they trip on psychedelics China hosts first fully autonomous AI robot football match AI virtual personality YouTubers, or 'VTubers,' are earning millions AI helps find formula for paint to keep buildings cooler Microsoft's New AI Tool Outperforms Doctors 4-to-1 in Diagnostic Accuracy - Slashdot It's Known as 'The List'—and It's a Secret File of AI Geniuses The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence We used Veo to animate archive photography from the Harley-Davidson Museum G/O Media Winds Down by Selling Kotaku, One of Its Last Sites Roadside America Dot Com Cluely pitches itself as undectable AI Lorde's new album: Virgin AI recipe creation Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau Guest: John Graham-Cumming Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: helixsleep.com/twit smarty.com/twit agntcy.org
On the inaugural episode of Scaling Laws, co-hosts Kevin Frazier, AI Innovation and Law Fellow at the University of Texas School of Law and a Senior Editor at Law, and Alan Rozenshtein, Professor at Minnesota Law and Research Director at Lawfare, speak with Adam Thierer, a senior fellow for the Technology and Innovation team at the R Street Institute, and Helen Toner, the Director of Strategy and Foundational Research Grants at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET).They discuss the recent overwhelming defeat in the Senate of a proposed moratorium on state and local regulation of artificial intelligence. The conversation explores the moratorium's journey from its inclusion in a House bill to its ultimate failure, examining the procedural hurdles, the confusing legislative language, and the political maneuvering that led to its demise by a 99-to-1 vote. The group discuss the future of U.S. AI governance, covering the Republican party's fragmentation on tech policy and whether Congress's failure to act is a sign of it being broken or a deliberate policy choice.Mentioned in this episode: “The Continuing Tech Policy Realignment on the Right” by Adam Thierer in Medium “1,000 AI Bills: Time for Congress to Get Serious About Preemption” by Kevin Frazier and Adam Thierer in Lawfare “Congress Should Preempt State AI Safety Legislation” by Dean W. Ball and Alan Z. Rozenshtein in Lawfare "The Coming Techlash Could Kill AI Innovation Before It Helps Anyone" by Kevin Frazier in Reason "Unresolved debates about the future of AI" by Helen Toner in Rising Tide Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jason Howell and Jeff Jarvis return for another week of AI news. We cover 1) Cloudflare launches tools for publisher control over AI crawlers 2) Creative Commons proposes dataset guidelines for AI training 3) Contradictory court rulings on AI and copyright 4) Getty Images drops claims against Stability AI in the UK 5) Senate strips federal ban on state AI regulations from tax bill 6) Meta's superintelligence lab and the AI hiring frenzy 7) Microsoft's new model claims breakthrough in medical diagnosis 8) MIT study questions AI's impact on student critical thinking 9) The Velvet Sundown: is Spotify's viral band AI-generated? 10) Preview of our interview with Rishad Tabakawala on AI's impact on advertising. Subscribe to the YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/@aiinsideshow Enjoying the AI Inside podcast? Please rate us ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcatcher of choice! Note: Time codes subject to change depending on dynamic ad insertion by the distributor. CHAPTERS: 0:00:00 - Podcast begins 0:01:47 - Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping 0:14:14 - Creative Commons debuts CC signals, a framework for an open AI ecosystem 0:17:42 - Microsoft sued by authors over use of books in AI training 0:20:28 - Judge dismisses authors' copyright lawsuit against Meta over AI training 0:22:36 - Getty drops key copyright claims against Stability AI, but UK lawsuit continues 0:24:55 - Senate Votes 99-1 to Strip AI Provision From Trump's Tax Bill 0:27:55 - Adam Thierer reacts 0:33:03 -Zuckerberg Debuts Meta ‘Superintelligence' Group, More Hires 0:35:22 - Someone has broken into our home and stolen something': An OpenAI exec on Meta's poaching spree 0:38:22 - The AI Company Zuckerberg Just Poured $14 Billion Into Is Reportedly a Clown Show of Ludicrous Incompetence 0:41:37 - Microsoft Says Its New AI System Diagnosed Patients 4 Times More Accurately Than Human Doctors 0:44:43 - Has AI already rotted my brain? 0:55:03 - The Velvet Sundown are a seemingly AI-generated band with 325k Spotify listeners 1:04:29 - Clip of upcoming interview with Rishad Tobaccowala about how AI tools like Veo 3 are reshaping ad creation and what this means for the future of advertising on TV and beyond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
President Trump's budget bill, having recently passed the House of Representatives, is headed for the Senate with a proposed 10-year moratorium on AI regulations at the state level. How should lawmakers approach this rapidly-developing technology without stalling US progress in the AI "arms race," while still prioritizing consumers' data privacy and online safety?Dr. Scott Babwah Brennen, Kevin Frazier, and Adam Thierer join the RTP Fourth Branch Podcast to discuss and debate the arguments of AI regulation, innovation, and preemption.
Adam Thierer from the R Street Institute discusses the importance of winning the race for dominance in the field of artificiall intelligence. He compares the competition between US-based AI and China's Deepseek AI and why it matters around the globe.
Adam Thierer, Senior Fellow for the Technology & Innovation team at R Street, joins Kevin Frazier, the AI Innovation and Law Fellow at the UT Austin School of Law and a Contributing Editor at Lawfare, to review public comments submitted in response to the Office of Science and Technology Policy's Request for Information on the AI Action Plan. The pair summarize their own comments and explore those submitted by major labs and civil society organizations. They also dive into recent developments in the AI regulatory landscape, including a major veto by Governor Youngkin in Virginia.Readings discussed:Kevin on Vance's America First, America Only Approach to AIKeegan and Adam on AI Safety Treatises Kevin on Proposed Firings at NISTDean and Alan on PreemptionTo receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Does a cat stand on two legs or four? The answer to that question may tell you all you need to know about the government involving itself in social media content moderation. On today's show, we cover the latest tech policy developments involving the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, AI regulation, and more. Guests: - Ari Cohn, FIRE's lead counsel, tech policy. - Adam Thierer, a resident technology and innovation senior fellow at the R Street Institute - Jennifer Huddleston, a technology policy senior fellow at the CATO Institute Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:30 Section 230 06:55 FCC and Section 230 14:32 Brendan Carr and “faith-based programming” 28:24 Media companies' settlements with the Trump 30:24 Brendan Carr at Semafor event 38:37 FTC and social media companies 48:09 AI regulations 01:03:43 Outro Enjoy listening to the podcast? Donate to FIRE today and get exclusive content like member webinars, special episodes, and more. If you became a FIRE Member through a donation to FIRE at thefire.org and would like access to Substack's paid subscriber podcast feed, please email sotospeak@thefire.org. Show notes: “Seeing reports that the FCC plans to take a vague and ineffective step on Section 230 to try to control speech online…” FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez via X (2025) “Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr taking first steps in eroding key legal protection enjoyed by Big Tech” New York Post (2025) Section 230 text “Federal Communications Commission” Brendan Carr via Project 2025 (2022) “Bless Ron Wyden and his steady defense of Section 230. He is absolutely right: 230 is a pro-competition law.” Adam Kovacevich via X (2025) “If Google is looking to block faith-based programming on YouTube, they are doing a really really bad job at it…” Adam Thierer via X (2025) “I have received complaints that Google's @YouTubeTV is discriminating against faith-based programming…” Brendan Carr via X (2025) “FCC's Carr defends broadcast probes, slams social media ‘threat'” Semafor (2025) “Petition for rulemaking of the national telecommunications and information administration” National Telecommunications and Information Administration (2020) “FCC Chair Brendan Carr taking first steps in eroding key legal protection enjoyed by Big Tech” New York Post (2025) “Big Tech censorship is not just un-American, it is potentially illegal…” FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson via X (2025) “Federal Trade Commission launches inquiry on tech censorship” FTC (2025) “Moody v. NetChoice” (2024) “The FTC is overstepping its authority — and threatening free speech online” FIRE (2025) “Wave of state-level AI bills raise First Amendment problems” FIRE (2025) “AI regulatory activity is completely out of control in the U.S…” Adam Thierer via X (2025) “Cyber rights: Defending free speech in the digital age” Mike Godwin (1995) “Greg Lukianoff testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, February 6, 2024” FIRE (2024) “Technologies of Freedom” Ithiel de Sola Pool (1984)
Mike Ferguson in the Morning 2-11-2025Also, Adam Thierer of RStreet Institute discusses whether China's DeepSeek AI the new "Sputnik Moment"?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This past week began with a tech selloff as Chinese AI startup DeepSeek spooked investors worldwide. Chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom were the stocks most impacted, as DeepSeek's AI virtual assistant "R1" was reportedly made much cheaper and faster than its American competitors. Entrepreneurs and policymakers worry DeepSeek could be a modern-day “Sputnik moment” and a sign that America is falling behind in the AI race. Adam Thierer, a senior fellow for the Technology & Innovation team at the R Street Institute, joined host Jessica Rosenthal to discuss the importance of America remaining a global leader in artificial intelligence. On the FOX News Rundown Extra, hear their full discussion about why the emergence of DeepSeek should serve as a wake-up call for our country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This past week began with a tech selloff as Chinese AI startup DeepSeek spooked investors worldwide. Chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom were the stocks most impacted, as DeepSeek's AI virtual assistant "R1" was reportedly made much cheaper and faster than its American competitors. Entrepreneurs and policymakers worry DeepSeek could be a modern-day “Sputnik moment” and a sign that America is falling behind in the AI race. Adam Thierer, a senior fellow for the Technology & Innovation team at the R Street Institute, joined host Jessica Rosenthal to discuss the importance of America remaining a global leader in artificial intelligence. On the FOX News Rundown Extra, hear their full discussion about why the emergence of DeepSeek should serve as a wake-up call for our country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This past week began with a tech selloff as Chinese AI startup DeepSeek spooked investors worldwide. Chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom were the stocks most impacted, as DeepSeek's AI virtual assistant "R1" was reportedly made much cheaper and faster than its American competitors. Entrepreneurs and policymakers worry DeepSeek could be a modern-day “Sputnik moment” and a sign that America is falling behind in the AI race. Adam Thierer, a senior fellow for the Technology & Innovation team at the R Street Institute, joined host Jessica Rosenthal to discuss the importance of America remaining a global leader in artificial intelligence. On the FOX News Rundown Extra, hear their full discussion about why the emergence of DeepSeek should serve as a wake-up call for our country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The southern border was a hot-button issue during the campaign, and President Donald Trump continues his push for immigration reform as he enters his second week in office. Former acting ICE Director during the first Trump administration, Jonathan Fahey joins the Rundown to discuss the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants, who could be targeted by ICE, and how the Trump White House plans to enforce its reforms. This week began with a tech selloff in the markets after investors were spooked by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. Experts are calling it “AI's Sputnik moment,” as this China-based company produced a vastly less expensive product that knocked ChatGPT off the number one spot in the Apple App Store. R Street Institute policy analyst Adam Thierer about how China's “world-class AI model” is a wake-up call for America's tech giants and AI innovation. Plus, commentary from FOX News contributor and host of the Jason In The House podcast, Jason Chaffetz. Photo Credit: AP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The southern border was a hot-button issue during the campaign, and President Donald Trump continues his push for immigration reform as he enters his second week in office. Former acting ICE Director during the first Trump administration, Jonathan Fahey joins the Rundown to discuss the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants, who could be targeted by ICE, and how the Trump White House plans to enforce its reforms. This week began with a tech selloff in the markets after investors were spooked by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. Experts are calling it “AI's Sputnik moment,” as this China-based company produced a vastly less expensive product that knocked ChatGPT off the number one spot in the Apple App Store. R Street Institute policy analyst Adam Thierer about how China's “world-class AI model” is a wake-up call for America's tech giants and AI innovation. Plus, commentary from FOX News contributor and host of the Jason In The House podcast, Jason Chaffetz. Photo Credit: AP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The southern border was a hot-button issue during the campaign, and President Donald Trump continues his push for immigration reform as he enters his second week in office. Former acting ICE Director during the first Trump administration, Jonathan Fahey joins the Rundown to discuss the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants, who could be targeted by ICE, and how the Trump White House plans to enforce its reforms. This week began with a tech selloff in the markets after investors were spooked by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. Experts are calling it “AI's Sputnik moment,” as this China-based company produced a vastly less expensive product that knocked ChatGPT off the number one spot in the Apple App Store. R Street Institute policy analyst Adam Thierer about how China's “world-class AI model” is a wake-up call for America's tech giants and AI innovation. Plus, commentary from FOX News contributor and host of the Jason In The House podcast, Jason Chaffetz. Photo Credit: AP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Adam Thierer, Senior Fellow for the Technology & Innovation team at R Street, joins Kevin Frazier, Senior Research Fellow in the Constitutional Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin and a Tarbell Fellow at Lawfare, to examine a lengthy, detailed report issued by the Bipartisan House Task Force on AI. Thierer walks through his own analysis of the report and considers some counterarguments to his primary concern that the report did not adequately address the developing patchwork of state AI regulations.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This virtual event explored the potential trajectories of AI policy under the upcoming shift in presidential administrations. Our expert panel, featuring Ash Kazaryan, Adam Kovacevich, and Neil Chilson, examined the critical issues surrounding AI and offered insights on what policymakers need to know as they navigate rapidly evolving AI technologies. This discussion, moderated by Adam Thierer, provides a balanced range of perspectives on how future administrations can effectively approach AI governance.
Ron and Ed welcome Back Adam Thierer, now with the R Street Institute, to talk about government regulation and AI. Adam has written extensively about how government regulation potentially affects the progress of innovation, especially with regard to new technology. This episode promises to be a wide-ranging and timely conversation.
Professor Werbach speaks with Adam Thierer, senior fellow for Technology and Innovation at R Street Institute. Adam and Kevin highligh developments in AI regulation on the state, federal, and international scale, and discuss both the benefits and dangers of regulatory engagement in the area. They consider the notion of AI as a “field-of-fields,” and the value of a sectoral approach to regulation, looking back to the development of regulatory approaches for the internet. Adam discusses what types of AI regulations can best balance accountability with innovation, protecting smaller AI developers and startups. Adam Thierer specializes in entrepreneurialism, Internet, and free-speech issues, with a focus on emerging technologies. He is a senior fellow for the Technology & Innovation team at R Street Institute, a leading public policy think tank, and previously spent 12 years as a senior fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Adam has also worked for the Progress and Freedom Foundation, the Adam Smith Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute. Adam has published 10 books on a wide range of topics, including online child safety, internet governance, intellectual property, telecommunications policy, media regulation and federalism. Flexible, Pro-Innovation Governance Strategies for Artificial Intelligence Permissionless Innovation: The Continuing Case for Comprehensive Technological Freedom Want to learn more? Engage live with Professor Werbach and other Wharton faculty experts in Wharton's new Strategies for Accountable AI online executive education program. It's perfect for managers, entrepreneurs, and advisors looking to harness AI's power while addressing its risks.
In this episode of AI, Government, and the Future, host Max Romanik is joined by Adam Thierer, Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute, to discuss the evolving landscape of AI policy and regulation. They explore the challenges of balancing innovation with governance, drawing parallels between early internet policy and current AI regulatory approaches. Adam shares insights on the pacing problem, the potential pitfalls of overregulation, and the importance of flexible, iterative governance frameworks for emerging technologies.
While AI doomers proselytize their catastrophic message, many politicians are recognizing that the loss of America's competitive edge poses a much more real threat than the supposed “existential risk” of AI. Today on Faster, Please!—The Podcast, I talk with Adam Thierer about the current state of the AI policy landscape and the accompanying fierce regulatory debate.Thierer is a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, where he promotes greater freedom for innovation and entrepreneurship. Prior to R Street, he worked as a senior fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, president of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, and at the Adam Smith Institute, Heritage Foundation, and Cato Institute.In This Episode* A changing approach (1:09)* The global AI race (7:26)* The political economy of AI (10:24)* Regulatory risk (16:10)* AI policy under Trump (22:29)Below is a lightly edited transcript of our conversationA changing approach (1:09)Pethokoukis: Let's start out with just trying to figure out the state of play when it comes to AI regulation. Now I remember we had people calling for the AI Pause, and then we had a Biden executive order. They're passing some sort of act in Europe on AI, and now recently a senate working group in AI put out a list of guidelines or recommendations on AI. Given where we started, which was “shut it down,” to where we're at now, has that path been what you might've expected, given where we were when we were at full panic?Thierer: No, I think we've moved into a better place, I think. Let's look back just one year ago this week: In the Senate Judiciary Committee, there was a hearing where Sam Altman of OpenAI testified along with Gary Marcus, who's a well-known AI worrywart, and the lawmakers were falling all over themselves to praise Sam and Gary for basically calling for a variety of really extreme forms of AI regulation and controls, including not just national but international regulatory bodies, new general purpose licensing systems for AI, a variety of different types of liability schemes, transparency mandates, disclosure as so-called “AI nutritional labels,” I could go on down the list of all the types of regulations that were being proposed that day. And of course this followed, as you said, Jim, a call for an AI Pause, without any details about exactly how that would work, but it got a lot of signatories, including people like Elon Musk, which is very strange considering he was at the same time deploying one of the biggest AI systems in history. But enough about Elon.The bottom line is that those were dark days, and I think the tenor of the debate and the proposals on the table today, one year after that hearing, have improved significantly. That's the good news. The bad news is that there's still a lot of problematic regulatory proposals percolating throughout the United States. As of this morning, as we're taping the show, we are looking at 738 different AI bills pending in the United States according to multistate.ai, an AI tracking service. One hundred and—I think—eleven of those are federal bills. The vast majority of it is state. But that count does not include all of the municipal regulatory proposals that are pending for AI systems, including some that have already passed in cities like New York City that already has a very important AI regulation governing algorithmic hiring practices. So the bottom line, Jim, is it's the best of times, it's the worst of times. Things have both gotten better and worse.Well—just because the most recent thing that happened—I know with this the senate working group, and they were having all kinds of technologists and economists come in and testify. So that report, is it really calling for anything specific to happen? What's in there other than just kicking it back to all the committees? If you just read that report, what does it want to happen?A crucial thing about this report, and let's be clear what this is, because it was an important report because senator Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was in charge of this, along with a bipartisan group of other major senators, and this started the idea of, so-called “AI insight forums” last year, and it seemed to be pulling some authority away from committees and taking it to the highest levels of the Senate to say, “Hey, we're going to dictate AI policy and we're really scared.” And so that did not look good. I think in the process, just politically speaking—That, in itself, is a good example. That really represents the level of concern that was going around, that we need to do something different and special to address this existential risk.And this was the leader of the Senate doing it and taking away power, in theory, from his committee members—which did not go over well with said committee members, I should add. And so a whole bunch of hearings took place, but they were not really formal hearings, they were just these AI insight forum working groups where a lot of people sat around and said the same things they always say on a daily basis, and positive and negatives of AI. And the bottom line is, just last week, a report came out from this AI senate bipartisan AI working group that was important because, again, it did not adopt the recommendations that were on the table a year ago when the process got started last June. It did not have overarching general-purpose licensing of artificial intelligence, no new call for a brand new Federal Computer Commission for America, no sweeping calls for liability schemes like some senators want, or other sorts of mandates.Instead, it recommended a variety of more generic policy reforms and then kicked a lot of the authority back to those committee members to say, “You fill out the details, for better for worse.” And it also included a lot of spending. One thing that seemingly everybody agrees on in this debate is that, well, the government should spend a lot more money and so another $30 billion was on the table of sort of high-tech pork for AI-related stuff, but it really did signal a pretty important shift in approach, enough that it agitated the groups on the more pro-regulatory side of this debate who said, “Oh, this isn't enough! We were expecting Schumer to go for broke and swing for the fences with really aggressive regulation, and he's really let us down!” To which I can only say, “Well, thank God he did,” because we're in a better place right now because we're taking a more wait-and-see approach on at least some of these issues.A big, big part of the change in this narrative is an acknowledgement of what I like to call the realpolitik of AI policy and specifically the realpolitik of geopoliticsThe global AI race (7:26)I'm going to ask you in a minute what stuff in those recommendations worries you, but before I do, what happened? How did we get from where we were a year ago to where we've landed today?A big, big part of the change in this narrative is an acknowledgement of what I like to call the realpolitik of AI policy and specifically the realpolitik of geopolitics. We face major adversaries, but specifically China, who has said in documents that the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] has published that they want to be the global leader in algorithmic and computational technologies by 2030, and they're spending a lot of money putting a lot of state resources into it. Now, I don't necessarily believe that means they're going to automatically win, of course, but they're taking it seriously. But it's not just China. We have seen in the past year massive state investments and important innovations take place across the globe.I'm always reminding people that people talk a big game about America's foundational models are large scale systems, including things like Meta's Llama, which was the biggest open source system in the world a year ago, and then two months after Meta launched Llama, their open source platform, the government of the UAE came out with Falcon 180B, an open source AI model that was two-and-a-half times larger than Facebook's model. That meant America's AI supremacy and open source foundational models lasted for two months. And that's not China, that's the government of the UAE, which has piled massive resources into being a global leader in computation. Meanwhile, China's launched their biggest super—I'm sorry, Russia's launched their biggest supercomputer system ever; you've got Europe applying a lot of resources into it, and so on and so forth. A lot of folks in the Senate have come to realize that problem is real: that if we shoot ourselves in the foot as a nation, they could race ahead and gain competitive advantage in geopolitical strategic advantages over the United States if it hobbles our technology base. I think that's the first fundamental thing that's changed.I think the other thing that changed, Jim, is just a little bit of existential-risk exhaustion. The rhetoric in this debate, as you've written about eloquently in your columns, has just been crazy. I mean, I've never really seen anything like it in all the years we've been covering technology and economic policy. You and I have both written, this is really an unprecedented level of hysteria. And I think, at some point, the Chicken-Littleism just got to be too much, and I think some saner minds prevailed and said, “Okay, well wait a minute. We don't really need to pause the entire history of computation to address these hypothetical worst-case scenarios. Maybe there's a better plan than that.” And so we're starting to pull back from the abyss, if you will, a little bit, and the adults are reentering the conversation—a little bit, at least. So I think those are the two things that really changed more, although there were other things, but those were two big ones.The political economy of AI (10:24)To what extent do you think we saw the retreat from the more apocalyptic thinking—how much that was due from what businesses were saying, venture capitalists, maybe other tech . . . ? What do you think were the key voices Congress started listening to a little bit more?That's a great question. The political economy of AI policy and tech policy is something that is terrifically interesting to me. There are so many players and voices involved in AI policy because AI is the most important general-purpose technology of our time, and as a widespread broad base—Do you have any doubt about that? (Let me cut you off.) Do you have any doubt about that?I don't. I think it's unambiguous, and we live in a world of “combinatorial innovation,” as Hal Varian calls it, where technologies build on top of the other, one after another, but the thing is they all lead to greater computational capacity, and therefore, algorithmic and machine learning systems come out of those—if we allow it. And the state of data science in this country has gotten to the point where it's so sophisticated because of our rich base of diverse types of digital technologies and computational technologies that finally we're going to break out of the endless cycle of AI booms and busts, and springs and winters, and we're going to have a summer. I think we're having it right now. And so that is going to come to affect every single segment and sector of our economy, including the government itself. I think industry has been very, very scrambled and sort of atomistic in their approach to AI policy, and some of them have been downright opportunistic, trying to throw each other's competitors under the busNow let me let you go return to the political economy, what I was asking you about, what were the voices, sorry, but I wanted to get that in there.Well, I think there are so many voices, I can't name them all today, obviously, but obviously we're going to start with one that's a quiet voice behind the scenes, but a huge one, which is, I think, the National Security community. I think clearly going back to our point about China and geopolitical security, I think a lot of people behind the scenes who care about these issues, including people in the Pentagon, I think they had conversations with certain members of Congress and said, “You know what? China exists. And if we're shooting ourselves in the foot, we begin this race for geopolitical strategic supremacy in an important new general-purpose technology arena, we're really hurting our underlying security as a nation. I think that that thinking is there. So that's an important voice.Secondly, I think industry has been very, very scrambled and sort of atomistic in their approach to AI policy, and some of them have been downright opportunistic, trying to throw each other's competitors under the bus, unfortunately, and that includes OpenAI trying to screw over other companies and technologies, which is dangerous, but the bottom line is: More and more of them are coming to realize, as they saw the actual details of regulation and thinking through the compliance costs, that “Hell no, we won't go, we're not going to do that. We need a better approach.” And it was always easier in the old days to respond to the existential risk route, like, “Oh yeah, sure, regulation is fine, we'll go along with it!” But then when you see the devilish details, you think twice and you realize, “This will completely undermine our competitive advantage in the space as a company or our investment or whatever else.” All you need to do is look at Exhibit A, which is Europe, and say, if you always run with worst-case scenario thinking and Chicken-Littleism is the basis of your technology policy, guess what? People respond to incentives and they flee.Hatred of big tech is like the one great bipartisan, unifying theme of this Congress, if anything. But at the end of the day, I think everyone is thankful that those companies are headquartered in the United States and not Beijing, Brussels, or anywhere else. It's interesting, the national security aspect, my little amateurish thought experiment would be, what would be our reaction, and what would be the reaction in Washington if, in November, 2022, instead of it being a company, an American company with a big investment from another American company having rolled out ChatGPT, what if it would've been Tencent, or Alibaba, or some other Chinese company that had rolled this out, something that's obviously a leap forward, and they had been ahead, even if they said, “Oh, we're two or three years ahead of America,” it would've been bigger than Sputnik, I think.People are probably tired of hearing about AI—hopefully not, I hope they'll also listen to this podcast—but that would all we would be talking about. We wouldn't be talking about job loss, and we wouldn't be talking about ‘The Terminator,' we'd be talking about the pure geopolitical terms that the US has suffered a massive, massive defeat here and who's to blame? What are we going to do? And anybody at that moment who would've said, “We need to launch cruise missile strikes on our own data centers” for fear. . . I mean! And I think you're right, the national security component, extremely important here.In fact, I stole your little line about “Sputnik moment,” Jim, when I testified in front of the House Oversight Committee last month and I said, “Look, it would've been a true ‘Sputnik moment,' and instead it's those other countries that are left having the Sputnik moment, right? They're wondering, ‘How is it that, once again, the United States has gotten out ahead on digital and computational-based technologies?'” But thank God we did! And as I pointed out in the committee room that day, there's a lot of people who have problems with technology companies in Congress today. Hatred of big tech is like the one great bipartisan, unifying theme of this Congress, if anything. But at the end of the day, I think everyone is thankful that those companies are headquartered in the United States and not Beijing, Brussels, or anywhere else. That's just a unifying theme. Everybody in the committee room that day nodded their head, “Yes, yes, absolutely. We still hate them, but we're thankful that they're here.” And that then extends to AI: Can the next generation of companies that they want to bring to Congress and bash and pull money from for their elections, can they once again exist in the United States?Regulatory risk (16:10)So whether it's that working group report, or what else you see in Congress, what are a couple, three areas where you're concerned, where there still seems to be some sort of regulatory momentum?Let's divide it into a couple of chunks here. First of all, at the federal level, Congress is so damn dysfunctional that I'm not too worried that even if they have bad ideas, they're going to pursue them because they're just such a mess, they can't get any basic things done on things like baseline privacy legislation, or driverless car legislation, or even, hell, the budget and the border! They can't get basics done!I think it's a big positive that one, while they're engaging in dysfunction, the technology is evolving. And I hope, if it's as important as I think you and I think, more money will be invested, we'll see more use cases, it'll be obvious—the downsides of screwing up the regulation I think will be more obvious, and I think that's a tailwind for this technology.We're in violent agreement on that, Jim, and of course this goes by the name of “the pacing problem,” the idea that technology is outpacing law in many ways, and one man's pacing problem is another man's pacing benefit, in my opinion. There's a chance for technology to prove itself a little bit. That being said, we don't live in a legislative or regulatory vacuum. We already have in the United States 439 government agencies and sub-agencies, 2.2 million employees just at the federal level. So many agencies are active right now trying to get their paws on artificial intelligence, and some of them already have it. You look at the FDA [Food and Drug Administration], the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration], NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration], I could go all through the alphabet soup of regulatory agencies that are already trying to regulate or overregulating AI right now.Then you have the Biden administration, who's gone out and done a lot of cheerleading in favor of more aggressive unilateral regulation, regardless of what Congress says and basically says, “To hell with all that stuff about Chevron Doctrine and major questions, we're just going to go do it! We're at least going to jawbone a lot and try to threaten regulation, and we're going to do it in the name of ‘algorithmic fairness,'” which is what their 100-plus-page executive order and their AI Bill of Rights says they're all about, as opposed to talking about AI opportunity and benefits—it's all misery. And it's like, “Look at how AI is just a massive tool of discrimination and bias, and we have to do something about it preemptively through a precautionary principle approach.” So if Congress isn't going to act, unfortunately the Biden administration already is and nobody's stopping them.But that's not even the biggest problem. The biggest problem, going back to the point that there are 730-plus bills pending in the US right now, the vast majority of them are state and local. And just last Friday, governor Jared Polis of Colorado signed into law the first major AI regulatory measure in Colorado, and there's a bigger and badder bill pending right now in California, there's 80 different bills pending in New York alone, and any half of them would be a disaster.I could go on down the list of troubling state patchwork problems that are going to develop for AI and ML [Machine Learning] systems, but the bottom line is this: This would be a complete and utter reversal of the winning formula that Congress and the Clinton administration gave us in the 1990s, which was a national—a global framework for global electronic commerce. It was very intentionally saying, “We're going to break with the Analog Era disaster, we're going to have a national framework that's pro-freedom to innovate, and we're going to make sure that these meddlesome barriers do not develop to online speech and commerce.” And yet, here with AI, we are witnessing a reversal of that. States are in the lead, and again, like I said, localities too, and Congress is sitting there and is the dysfunctional soup that it is saying, “Oh, maybe we should do something to spend a little bit more money to promote AI.” Well, we can spend all the money we want, but we can end up like Europe who spends tons of money on techno-industrial policies and gets nothing for it because they can't get their innovation culture right, because they're regulating the living hell out of digital technology.So you want Congress to take this away from the states?I do. I do, but it's really, really hard. I think what we need to do is follow the model that we had in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1998. We've also had moratoriums, not only through the Internet Tax Freedom Act, but through the Commercial Space Amendments having to do with space commercial travel and other bills. Congress has handled the question of preemption before and put moratoria in place to say, “Let's have a learning period before we go do stupid things on a new technology sector that is fast moving and hard to understand.” I think that would be a reasonable response, but again, I have to go back to what we just talked about, Jim, which is that there's no chance of us probably getting it. There's no appetite in it. Not any of the 111 bills pending in Congress right now says a damn thing about state and local regulation of technology!Is the thrust of those federal bills, is it the kinds of stuff that you're generally worried about?Mostly, but not entirely. Some of it is narrower. A lot of these bills are like, “Let's take a look at AI and. . . fill in the blank: elections, AI and jobs, AI and whatever.” And some of them, on the merits, not terrible, others, I have concerns, but it's certainly better that we take a targeted sectoral approach to AI policy and regulation than having the broad-based, general-purpose stuff. Now, there are broad-based, general-purpose measures, and here's what they do, Jim: They basically say, “Look, instead of having a whole cloth new regulatory approach, let's build on the existing types of approaches being utilized in the Department of Commerce, namely through our NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology], and NTIA [National Telecommunications and Information Administration] sub-agencies there. NIST is the National Standards Body, and basically they develop best practices through something called the AI Risk Management Framework for artificial intelligence development—and they're good! It's multi-stakeholder, it's bottom up, it's driven by the same principles that motivated the Clinton administration to do multi-stakeholder processes for the internet. Good model. It is non-regulatory, however. It is a consensus-based, multi-stakeholder, voluntary approach to developing consensus-based standards for best practices regarding various types of algorithmic services. These bills in Congress—and there's at least five of them that I count, that I've written about recently—say, “Let's take that existing infrastructure and give it some enforcement teeth. Let's basically say, ‘This policy infrastructure will be converted into a quasi-regulatory system,'” and there begins the dangerous path towards backdoor regulation of artificial intelligence in this country, and I think that's the most likely model we'll get. Like I said, five models, legislative models in the Senate alone that would do that to varying degrees.AI policy under Trump (22:29)Do you have any feel for what a Trump administration would want to do on this?I do, because a month before the Trump administration left office, they issued a report through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and it basically laid out for agencies a set of principles for how it should evaluate artificial intelligence systems, both that are used by the government or that they regulate in the private sector, and it was an excellent set of principles. It was a restatement of the importance of policy, forbearance and humility. It was a restatement of a belief in cost-benefit analysis and identifying not only existing regulatory capacity to address these problems, but also non-regulatory mechanisms or best practices or standards that could address some of these things. It was a really good memo. I praised it in a piece that I wrote just before the Trump administration left. Now, of course, the Trump administration may change.Yes, and also, the technology has changed. I mean, that was 2020 and a lot has happened, and I don't know where. . . . I'm not sure where all the Republicans are. I think some people get it. . .I think the problem, Jim, is that, for the Republican Party, and Trumpian conservatives, in particular, they face a time of choosing. And what I mean by this is that they have spent the last four to six years—and Trump egged this on—engaging in nonstop quote-unquote “big tech bashing” and making technology companies in the media out to be, as Trumps calls them, “the enemy of the American people.” And so many hearings now are just parading tech executives and others up there to be beaten with a stick in front of the public, and this is the new thing. And then there's just a flood of bills that would regulate traditional digital technologies, repeal things like Section 230, which is liability protection for the tech sector, and so on, child safety regulations.Meanwhile, that same Republican Party and Mr. Trump go around hating on Joe Biden in China. If it's one thing they can't stand more than big tech, it's Joe and China! And so, in a sense, they've got to choose, because their own policy proposals on technology could essentially kneecap America's technology base in a way that would open up the door to whether it's what they fear in the “woke DEI policies” of Biden or the CCP's preferred policy agenda for controlling computation in the world today. Choose two, you don't get all three. And I think this is going to be an interesting thing to watch if Mr. Trump comes back into office, do they pick up where that OMB memo left off, or do they go right back to beating that “We've got to kill big tech by any means necessary in a seek-and-destroy mission, to hell with the consequences.” And I don't know yet.Faster, Please! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe
Part three of this year's Summer with Sphere is coming to you live from Sphere Summit. Join us on Tuesday, July 25th from 2–3 pm EDT for a panel discussion on the most important issues in tech policy and regulation. Joining us will be Jennifer Huddleston, Technology Policy Research Fellow at the Cato Institute, Nicol Turner Lee, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies and Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings Institution, and Adam Thierer, Resident Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation at R Street. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Thank you for listening to the 43rd episode of "This Week's Economy." Today, I cover: 1) National: - Jobs report from last Friday looks good on the surface but weak under it - CPI inflation indicates it is heating up again, and real earnings are weak - GOP debate was too much infighting and not enough specificity, especially on spending - Trump v. Biden: Comparison after three years of both administrations 2) States: - Texas property tax relief isn't being felt by many Texans, and the amount of tax relief will be much less because of excess state and local spending - Texas Policy Research Initiative launches and posts about the messy legislative process in Texas - New South Carolina Sustainable Budget for FY 2025 will pave a better path forward if followed 3) Other: - I'm now an associate research fellow at AIER; don't miss my latest piece on how states are hurting people by raising their minimum wages - My website is newly updated; be sure to check that out as well - Don't miss the latest LPP podcast with Adam Thierer of R Street Institute on the technology revolution - Mark your calendars for Monday for a new podcast with Michael Cannon of Cato Institute on improving health care affordability, accessibility, and quality Please share this episode on social media, and provide a rating and review. Also, subscribe and see show notes for this episode on Substack (www.vanceginn.substack.com) and visit my website for economic insights (www.vanceginn.com).
Episode 78 is with Adam Thierer, innovation policy analyst at R Street Institute and author of, “Evasive Entrepreneurs and the Future of Governance: How Innovation Improves Economies and Governments?" Today, we discuss: 1) What makes nations rich and how America has become the most prosperous nation on earth; 2) The importance of failure, freedom, and permissionless innovation; and 3) Why AI and technology must be embraced, and the issues with Biden's AI executive order. Check out Adam's book: https://www.amazon.com/Evasive-Entrepreneurs-Innovation-Economies-Governments/dp/1948647761/ref Please share this on social media and provide a rating and review. Also, subscribe and see show notes for this episode on Substack (www.vanceginn.substack.com) and visit my website for economic insights (www.vanceginn.com).
Hosts Joe Grogan and Eric Ueland explore the paths forward for policymakers grappling with the limitless possibilities of AI. They are joined by prolific author and 30+ year veteran of Washington's approach to technology, innovation, and public policy, Adam Thierer. They discuss how global regulators have helped—or harmed—human progress and American innovation. This episode is a master class in the precedents and current thinking shaping this rapidly evolving technology. See more at these links. Helpful links: Pieces by Adam Without Section 230 Protections, Generative AI Innovation Will Be Decimated Flexible, Pro-Innovation Governance Strategies for Artificial Intelligence Overregulating AI Will Disrupt Markets and Discourage Competition White House Executive Order Threatens to Put AI in a Regulatory Cage What I Learned about the Power of AI at the Cleveland Clinic Running List of My Research on AI, ML & Robotics Policy Commentary and contributions by Joe AI Healthcare Working Group AI in health care: The perils of Biden's executive order News and recent developments E.U. Agrees on Landmark Artificial Intelligence Rules Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence
Hosts Joe Grogan and Eric Ueland explore the paths forward for policymakers grappling with the limitless possibilities of AI. They are joined by prolific author and 30+ year veteran of Washington's approach to technology, innovation, and public policy, Adam Thierer. They discuss how global regulators have helped—or harmed—human progress and American innovation. This episode is a master class in the precedents and current thinking shaping this rapidly evolving technology. See more at these links.Helpful links:Pieces by AdamWithout Section 230 Protections, Generative AI Innovation Will Be DecimatedFlexible, Pro-Innovation Governance Strategies for Artificial IntelligenceOverregulating AI Will Disrupt Markets and Discourage CompetitionWhite House Executive Order Threatens to Put AI in a Regulatory CageWhat I Learned about the Power of AI at the Cleveland ClinicRunning List of My Research on AI, ML & Robotics PolicyCommentary and contributions by JoeAI Healthcare Working GroupAI in health care: The perils of Biden's executive orderNews and recent developmentsE.U. Agrees on Landmark Artificial Intelligence RulesExecutive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence
What limits innovation? Is that good? I talk to Adam Thierer, senior fellow at the R Street Institute, exploring the concept of permissionless innovation and its far-reaching implications. From ancient Mesopotamia to the digital revolution, we unpack how policy context shape the trajectory of innovation and, consequently, our society.With Aaron Wildavsky saying "Go!" and my son Kevin Munger saying "Not so fast, there Scooter!", we venture into the contentious territory of innovation intellectual property rights in an era of digital sharing. FOUR TWEJs (trying to keep THAT weekly, at least), and some great letters.LINKS:PAPERS and BOOKS by ADAM THIERER:https://rtp.fedsoc.org/paper/the-coming-onslaught-of-algorithmic-fairness-regulations/https://fedsoc.org/commentary/fedsoc-blog/the-problem-with-ai-licensing-an-fda-for-algorithms https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/overregulating-ai-will-disrupt-markets-and-discourage-competitionhttps://www.rstreet.org/people/adam-thierer/https://www.amazon.com/Books-Adam-Thierer/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AAdam+ThiererMoney Pump: https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100205601#:~:text=The%20concept%20was%20introduced%20by,willing%20to%20pay%20for%20it. https://johanegustafsson.net/books/money-pump-arguments.pdf Aaron Wildavsky, SEARCHING FOR SAFETY, https://www.routledge.com/Searching-for-Safety/Wildavsky/p/book/9780912051185Calestous Juma, INNOVATION AND ITS ENEMIES https://academic.oup.com/book/25649William Baumol, ENTREPRENEURSHIP (article) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/088390269400014XEpstein and Munger on Capitalism and Stagnation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o-s541UKgI Munger on “Permissionless Innovation” on Econtalk https://www.econtalk.org/michael-munger-on-permissionless-innovation/ If you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at taitc.email@gmail.com ! You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz
President Biden has signed a sweeping new executive order to regulate the development of artificial intelligence. Is that the federal government's role? Or the role of Congress? And how will this impact our global competitiveness? Adam Thierer from the R Street Institute says this executive order throws the kitchen sink at the issue and threatens innovation.
What does it take to attract the world's most brilliant minds?In this Tech Roundup episode, Caleb Watney and Adam Thierer explore the United States' approach towards highly skilled immigration, its impact on innovation and economic growth, and how it might be improved going forward.They begin by looking backwards, highlighting contributions from scientific refugees that led to remarkable advances such as the Manhattan Project. The conversation then delves into present-day legislative scenarios, including bipartisan support and barriers to immigration reform, alongside an analysis of specific policies like the CHIPS Act and the potential to expand the O-1 visa for extraordinary ability. The episode underscores immigrants' contributions to entrepreneurship and contrasts the United States' policies with those of Canada, the UK, and China's aggressive talent recruitment strategies.Tune in for an in-depth exploration of how the United States could maintain its competitive edge in the global race for talent.Featuring:- Adam Thierer, Senior Fellow, Technology & Innovation, R Street Institute- Caleb Watney, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Institute for ProgressAdditional Resources:- STEM Immigration Is Critical to American National SecurityVisit our website – www.RegProject.org – to learn more, view all of our content, and connect with us on social media.*******As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.
What will happen to our jobs when the robots take over? Kelli and Shoshana navigate the world of artificial intelligence and jobs with R Street's Resident Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation, Adam Thierer. An expert on AI, he explains why you shouldn't worry so much about the robots taking your job. Kelli also speaks with Dr. Christi Smith who explains why a criminal record shouldn't always prevent you from getting a job. Instead, more states should look at “clean slate” laws that remove barriers to jobs for those with criminal records. Kelli and Christi discuss the importance of giving people second chances and allowing them to become productive members of society. (0:06:14) The Impact of AI on Jobs (0:08:45) The Evolution of Technology and Professions (0:12:26) AI and Quantum Computers Enhance Creativity (0:16:21) Truckers Union vs. Driverless Trucks (0:20:26) Retraining in Changing Industries (0:26:41) Technology, Burnout, and Job Security (0:36:00) Clean Slate Laws for Convicts (0:39:27) Jobs for Those With Sealed Records (0:42:28) Clean Slate (0:45:31) Clean Slate Reform
The R Street Institute's Adam Thierer offers a perspective on the role artificial intelligence is having in the economy and workplace. The discussion looks at worries many have about AI replacing and leaving workers behind.
On this week's episode of She Thinks, Adam Thierer joins to help us break down the complicated topic of AI. It's a field that combines human intelligence, data, and computer science to problem solve, and it's left us wondering, “can machines think or lie?” If you've been scratching your head trying to figure out this […]
On this week's episode of She Thinks, Adam Thierer joins to help us break down the complicated topic of AI. It's a field that combines human intelligence, data, and computer science to problem solve, and it's left us wondering, “can machines think or lie?” If you've been scratching your head trying to figure out this new field, this episode is for you. We look at what artificial intelligence actually is, the pros and cons, and what, if any, legislation needs to pass to prevent machines from taking over the world. Adam Thierer is a senior fellow for the Technology & Innovation team at the R Street Institute. He works to make the world safe for innovators and entrepreneurs by pushing for a policy vision that is rooted in the idea of “permissionless innovation.” Adam has published 10 books on a wide range of topics, including online child safety, internet governance, intellectual property, telecommunications policy, media regulation, and federalism. In 2008, Adam received the Family Online Safety Institute's “Award for Outstanding Achievement.”--She Thinks is a podcast for women (and men) who are sick of the spin in today's news cycle and are seeking the truth. Once a week, every week, She Thinks host Beverly Hallberg is joined by guests who cut through the clutter and bring you the facts. You don't have to keep up with policy and politics to understand how issues will impact you and the people you care about most. You just have to keep up with us. We make sure you have the information you need to come to your own conclusions. Because, let's face it, you're in control of your own life and can think for yourself. You can listen to the latest She Thinks episode(s) here or wherever you get your podcasts. Then subscribe, rate, and share with your friends. If you are already caught up and want more, join our online community. Be sure to subscribe to our emails to ensure you're equipped with the facts on the issues you care about most: https://iwf.org/connect. Independent Women's Forum (IWF) believes all issues are women's issues. IWF promotes policies that aren't just well-intended, but actually enhance people's freedoms, opportunities, and choices. IWF doesn't just talk about problems. We identify solutions and take them straight to the playmakers and policy creators. And, as a 501(c)3, IWF educates the public about the most important topics of the day. Check out the Independent Women's Forum website for more information on how policies impact you, your loved ones, and your community: www.iwf.org. Subscribe to IWF's YouTube channel. Follow IWF on social media: - on Twitter- on Facebook- on Instagram#IWF #SheThinks #AllIssuesAreWomensIssues Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this Tech Roundup episode, we delve into the discussions raised by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's recent hearing on AI regulation. Neil Chilson and Adam Thierer offer an in-depth analysis of the various approaches to AI that are being considered by regulators and in public policy circles – from voluntary efforts by the industry to promote transparency and accountability to advocating for licensing and testing requirements for AI deployment to the prospect of a global regulatory body for AI. They explore whether AI presents fundamentally new questions for policymakers, or whether regulators already have the tools they need. They discuss the risk of over-regulating this new innovative space and the potential consequences of doing so. Don't miss out on this extensive conversation on one of the most important issues in tech policy today. Visit our website – www.RegProject.org – to learn more, view all of our content, and connect with us on social media.
The advent of AI technologies such as ChatGPT has brought much excitement. While many have celebrated this innovation, an increasing number are calling for greater regulations to mitigate its perceived risks. But could heavy-handed regulation harm the sector and prevent threaten future innovation? To discuss this, IEA Director of Public Policy and Communications Matthew Lesh sat down with Adam Thierer, Senior Fellow in Technology and Innovation at the R Street Institute, a Washington DC think tank.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have reentered our public discourse due to some fascinating new applications, yet AI's role in these areas has also made many question the moral place of AI and its implications on our culture beyond these applications. We'll be discussing these topics and more with one of the foremost experts on AI and tech regulation, Adam Thierer.
Matt Kibbe is joined by the R Street Institute's Adam Thierer and Wayne Brough to discuss the state of free speech on the internet. With Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, we are in the middle of a national debate about the tension between censorship and free expression online. On the Right, many people are calling for government to rein in what they perceive as the excesses of Big Tech companies, while the Left wants the government to crack down on speech they deem dangerous. Both approaches make the same mistake of giving politicians authority over what we are allowed to say and hear. And with recent revelations about government agents leaning on social media companies to censor speech, it's clear that when it comes to the online conversation, there's no such thing as a purely private company.
In this episode, Adam Thierer interviews Professor Daniel Crane regarding state restrictions on direct car sales and their implications for automobile markets, including the antitrust concerns they may raise.Featuring:– Daniel Crane, Frederick Paul Furth Sr. Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School– [Moderator] Adam Thierer, Senior Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason UniversityVisit our website – www.RegProject.org – to learn more, view all of our content, and connect with us on social media.
Eight years after he was first sworn in, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey will leave office in January 2023 due to the state's limit of two consecutive terms. In this episode, Governor Ducey joined tech policy experts Brent Skorup and Adam Thierer to discuss initiatives aimed at boosting innovation Arizona has launched during his time in office. Their conversation covered regulatory sandboxes, occupational licensing reform, autonomous vehicle policy, and much more.This episode was co-sponsored by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.Featuring:- Doug Ducey, Governor, State of Arizona- Brent Skorup, Senior Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University- [Moderator] Adam Thierer, Senior Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason UniversityVisit our website – www.RegProject.org – to learn more, view all of our content, and connect with us on social media.
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