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President Donald Trump was sworn into office just over 100 days ago. And ever since Inauguration Day, tech industry leaders like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have been a regular presence at the White House. But the start of Trump's term — from tariffs to antitrust trials to DOGE cuts — has been rocky for Silicon Valley. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Brendan Bordelon joins host Steven Overly for a debrief on Trump's first 100 days in office, and a look at what's to come in the next 100. Steven Overly is the host of POLITICO Tech and covers the intersection of trade and technology. Nirmal Mulaikal is the co-host and producer of POLITICO Energy. Alex Keeney is a senior audio producer at POLITICO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tech companies have long struggled to hire enough Americans with technical expertise, and to fill that shortfall, they've often hired immigrants with green cards or H-1B visas. Now, Silicon Valley leaders — with Elon Musk at the helm — see an opportunity to recruit even more foreign-born workers. But that doesn't sit well with the immigration restrictionists in Trump's camp, which amounts to a political showdown for Republicans, especially as Congress looks to tackle immigration when Trump takes office. Steven Overly sits down with POLITICO tech reporter Brendan Bordelon to break it all down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Congress returns to Washington tomorrow with the results of last week's election hanging overhead. But the weeks ahead could be a busy time for tech. Congress has let legislation languish on issues like artificial intelligence, spectrum authorization and kids online safety — and some lawmakers are now eager to get them done. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly and reporter Brendan Bordelon break down expectations for the lame duck session. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Donald Trump is on the cusp of winning the presidency. But so much in tech policy depends on which party controls Congress. And last night, Republicans took control of the Senate. That has big implications for policy debates over issues like artificial intelligence, data privacy and cryptocurrency. POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly and reporter Brendan Bordelon discuss what this new balance of power in Washington means for Silicon Valley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
There's a contingent of "effective altruists" pouring millions of dollars into Washington to influence the policy debate around artificial intelligence. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Brendan Bordelon and host Steven Overly discuss the motives and ethics of one of the movement's biggest players in town.
There will be a lot of chatter about artificial intelligence in the Senate this fall. But will that lead to any action? On today's episode, POLITICO reporters Rebecca Kern and Brendan Bordelon join Steven Overly to break down what to expect from the Senate this fall on AI, online safety, TikTok and more.
First came Denmark. Then the U.K. and, more recently, the EU. A growing list of governments are setting up de facto embassies in Silicon Valley, largely to develop closer relationships with tech companies. POLITICO's Steven Overly and Brendan Bordelon break down the purpose of these outposts, what they're really like on the inside, and what they signal about the political and commercial pull of the U.S.'s largest tech hub.
Stanford's Evelyn Douek and Riana Pfefferkorn weigh in on the latest online trust and safety news and developments:Update on last week's segment on Law Enforcement Data Requests:California passed a law last year that seeks to block warrants requesting information about abortions from tech companies. - Andrea Vittorio/ Bloomberg LawCalifornia lawmakers are looking at ways to stop dragnet reverse warrants and keyword search warrants. - Tonya Riley/ CyberScoopThe FTC Takes on TwitterThe Federal Trade Commission is probing whether Twitter still has the staff and budget to comply with a 2011 consent decree for privacy and data protection standards and reporting. - Ryan Tracy/ The Wall Street Journal, Kate Conger, Ryan Mac, David McCabe/ The New York Times, Brian Fung/ CNNHouse Republicans created an outrage fest about FTC investigations into Twitter's compliance with its consent decree. - Jared Gans/ The Hill, Emily Brooks, Rebecca Klar/ The HillNot to say “we told you so,” but this FTC action was predicted in an episode last year which still provides a good primer on Twitter's data security problems with the FTC. - Evelyn Douek, Whitney Merrill, Riana Pfefferkorn/ Stanford LawHouse Republicans passed an anti-jawboning law, H.R. 140, the Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act. Of course, it does not apply to Congress, and it faces long odds in the senate. - Brian Fung/ CNNSens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and John Thune (R-SD) introduced the RESTRICT Act, which would give the Secretary of Commerce authority to ban technology products from companies with ties to foreign adversaries, including TikTok. - Brian Fung/ CNN, Brendan Bordelon, Gavin Bade/ PoliticoAny user can lose access to social media accounts for refusing to verify their age and parental consent is required for children under 18 to create social media accounts under a bill, SB 152, that passed the Utah State Legislature and is soon expected to be signed into state law. - Kim Bojórquez, Erin Alberty/ AxiosTwitter announced new enterprise packages for access to collect tweets through its API with the lowest tier priced at more than $500,000 per year. - Chris Stokel-Walker/ WiredMore: Academics currently receive free access. Now, most if not all academics will be priced out of even the lowest tier of data access.Join the conversation and connect with Evelyn on Twitter at @evelyndouek.Moderated Content is produced in partnership by Stanford Law School and the Cyber Policy Center. Special thanks to John Perrino for research and editorial assistance.Like what you heard? Don't forget to subscribe and share the podcast with friends!
The 5-4 decision blocking Texas' social media law was closer than expected, and Justice Samuel Alito's dissent suggests conservative judges may be shifting on the free speech rights of tech platforms. Brendan Bordelon reports.
On the latest episode of the podcast, tech policy reporter Brendan Bordelon joins managing editor Mackenzie Weinger to break down everything that happened, and didn’t, with the Senate’s massive R&D package meant to counter China. Then, health care correspondent Erin Durkin joins to discuss the legal uncertainties surrounding mandating COVID-19 vaccines in schools, as well as the future of lobbying on the Hill for patient advocates.
On the latest edition of the podcast, White House correspondent George Condon talks with Editor in Chief Jeff Dufour about President Biden weighing in on the George Floyd verdict, the biggest surprises of his first 100 days, and what to expect from his first address to Congress. Then, tech correspondent Brendan Bordelon discusses Facebook's oversight panel, the next wave of rulemaking on net neutrality, and the latest developments on antitrust actions against big tech.
National security correspondent Harrison Cramer and technology reporter Brendan Bordelon join managing editor Mackenzie Weinger to discuss U.S.-China relations and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's plans for a legislative package this spring focused on countering Beijing.
Health care correspondent Erin Durkin joins Editor in Chief Jeff Dufour to discuss the Biden administration's challenges in ramping up vaccine distribution. Then, national security correspondent Harrison Cramer talks about securing the Capitol, lawmakers' new moves to thwart right-wing extremists, and what a Biden foreign policy will look like. Finally, tech correspondent Brendan Bordelon explains how the riot at the Capitol may have changed the calculus on regulating the tech industry.
Editor in Chief Jeff Dufour is joined by White House correspondent George E. Condon Jr. to talk about President Trump's failure to stay on message and Trump and Joe Biden's dueling town halls last week. Then, technology correspondent Brendan Bordelon discusses social media platforms' reactions to the New York Post's story about Hunter Biden and the debate over Section 230.
Managing editor Mackenzie Weinger is joined by health care correspondent Erin Durkin to discuss the latest coronavirus updates along with health insurance options for unemployed Americans. Technology correspondent Brendan Bordelon also joins the show to talk about how different countries are tracking their citizens to prevent the spread of the virus and the privacy concerns with this centralized response.
Editor in chief Jeff Dufour sits down with White House correspondent George E. Condon Jr. to discuss Russian interference in the 2020 election, President Trump's visit to India, and recent presidential pardons. Technology correspondent Brendan Bordelon also joins the podcast to talk about Facebook's relationship with conservative America, U.S. policy with Huawei, the Section 230 debate, and the upcoming FISA renewal.
Ahead of this week's public hearings, staff correspondent Casey Wooten joins digital editor Mini Racker to summarize the impeachment inquiry's most important findings and introduce the witnesses who are playing starring roles on the national stage. Plus, technology correspondent Brendan Bordelon is on to talk TikTok and the "techlash."
Editor in chief Jeff Dufour joins White House correspondent George Condon to break down Trump's Ukraine scandal and his recent "Howdy Modi" event with the Indian prime minister. Then, he talks with technology correspondent Brendan Bordelon about Mark Zuckerberg's recent "charm offensive" on Capitol Hill.
Staff correspondent Zach Cohen and technology correspondent Brendan Bordelon join policy editor Mackenzie Weinger to discuss which Republicans may reject Trump's emergency declaration, as well as those who are working with Democrats to break up big tech.
Data privacy. Just saying those two words together probably conjures a whole host of emotions, ranging from suspicion and fear about the way corporations collect and use our personal information to amazement at the quantity and variety of digital products and services that our personal data buys us access to. As any lawyer will tell you, privacy has always been a tricky issue to pin down, and the digital age has made that even more obvious, as consumers seem both more willing than ever to share private information about themselves freely online and simultaneously more concerned that such information might be used improperly. For today’s episode, we’re going to be talking with some tech experts who deal with these issues every day. Mercatus scholar Jennifer Huddleston. Jennifer’s research focuses on the intersection of emerging technology and law Shane Tews, Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where she focuses on cybersecurity and internet governance Brendan Bordelon, tech and cybersecurity reporter at National Journal Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadMReese. Love the show? Give us a rating on Apple Podcasts! Today's What's on Tap beverage is Budweiser's Copper Lager.
George Condon, Brendan Bordelon, and Hanna Trudo join Ben Pershing to discuss Trump's boasts about economic growth, congressional action on cybersecurity and quantum computing, and the latest Hotline ranking of Democratic 2020 hopefuls.
Daniel Newhauser, Hanna Trudo, and Brendan Bordelon join Jeff Dufour to discuss the House's immigration compromise, the 2020 landscape, and what the AT+T-Time Warner merger means for big tech.
On May 16th, the US Senate voted to repeal a Federal Communications Commission rule that was itself a repeal of the FCC’s 2015 rule intended to change the way the internet is regulated. The double repeal is now awaiting sign off from the House and the President, neither of which seem likely to support it. Still, the legislation has renewed the debate over ‘net neutrality,’ and how policymakers should regulate the internet. Here to unpack those issues are three experts on internet policy issues: Brent Skorup, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, specializing in technology policy Roslyn Layton, Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who focuses on telecommunications, internet regulation, and privacy issues Brendan Bordelon, tech and cybersecurity reporter at the National Journal Download this episode and subscribe to the Mercatus Policy Download on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadMReese.
Brendan Bordelon joins Adam Wollner to discuss the fallout from the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, the online sex-trafficking bill President Trump recently signed into law, and the future of driverless cars following a deadly accident in Arizona.
Dan Newhauser and Casey Wooten join Adam Wollner to discuss the final steps for the GOP tax bill, whether lawmakers will be able to avoid a government shutdown, and Paul Ryan's future. Later, Brendan Bordelon makes his podcast debut to break down the FCC's vote to repeal net neutrality regulations.
Andrew Jay Schwartzman (@aschwa02) is the Benton Senior Counselor at the Institute for Public Representation of Georgetown University Law Center. He directed Media Access Project, a public interest media and telecommunications law firm, for 34 years. Mr. Schwartzman serves on the International Advisory Board of Southwestern Law School's National Entertainment & Media Law Institute and on the Board of Directors of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and was the Board President of the Safe Energy Communications Council for many years. Mr. Schwartzman's work has been published in major legal and general journals, including Variety, The Nation, The Washington Post, COMM/ENT Law Journal, the Federal Communications Law Journal, and The ABA Journal. He has also been a frequent guest on television and radio programs. In recognition of his service as chief counsel in the public interest community's challenge to the FCC's June, 2003 media ownership deregulation decision, Scientific American honored Schwartzman as one of the nation's 50 leaders in technology for 2004. Schwartzman was the 2002 Verizon Distinguished Lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University, the 2004 McGannon Lecturer on Communications Policy and Ethics at Fordham University in 2004, and the Distinguished Lecturer in Residence at the Southwestern University School of Law Summer Entertainment and Media Law Program at Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge (2004). In this episode we discussed: possible scenarios regarding the AT&T/Time Warner merger. what an FCC under an Ajit Pai Chairmanship might look like. the possible future of net neutrality under a Donald Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress. Resources Andy's Schwartzman's 'The Daily Item' Newsletter (subscribe here) Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center The Industries of the Future by Alec Ross Yuge!: 30 Years of Doonesbury on Trump by G.B. Trudeau NEWS ROUNDUP A BuzzFeed analysis of news stories appearing on Facebook found fake news stories received more engagements during the final three months before the presidential election than news stories from the leading real news outlets. The difference was some 1.4 million combined likes, shares and comments. At a news conference in Germany, President Obama expressed concern about the spread of fake news saying Q“If we are not serious about facts and what's true and what's not ... if we can't discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems". On the Washington Post's The Intersect Blog, a fake news writer by the name of Paul Horner, who has written numerous fake news stories which have gone viral, expressed regret for the stories he wrote and said he thinks President-elect Trump won the election because of him. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was initially dismissive, saying the week before last that the notion of fake news having impacted the election in any significant way is a "pretty crazy idea". Since then, Zuckerberg has announced initiatives to identify fake news, such as through user generated reports. Meanwhile, a group of students participating in a hackathon at Princeton last week developed a Chrome plug-in that allows users to assess the veracity of news stories. -- Policymakers are increasingly concerned about the role that mobile apps play in distracted driving incidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that between January and June of this year, highway fatalities were up 10.4% to 17,775, compared to the same period in 2015. Neal Boudette reports in The New York Times on goals set during the Obama administration to eliminate highway fatalities by 2047. -- SnapChat filed for an initial public offering last week. The IPO is expected to be valued at around $20 billion. It is the largest IPO since Facebook's in 2012. Reuters has more. -- Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has submitted his resignation after a 50- year U.S. intelligence career. In October, Clapper's office formally concluded that Russia was behind cyberattacks intended to sway the U.S. presidential election, and that Rusian President Vladimir Putin has almost certainly approved them. Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee that submitting his resignation "felt pretty good." Greg Miller has the story at the Washington Post. -- A new Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure--Rule 41--which would give federal authorities sweeping powers to search devices, is set to go into effect on December 1st. Currently, federal judges can only authorize searches within their own jurisdictions. Once Rule 41 goes into effect, judges will have the authority to issue search warrants for computers located outside their jurisdictional boundaries, potentially allowing a single judge to issue searches of millions of computers. Civil rights groups are concerned about the rule would intrude on innocents, particularly communities of color. Senator Ron Wyden has proposed legislation to scale back Rule 41, but it hasn't even gotten a committee hearing. On Thursday, Delaware Senator Chris Coons introduced legislation that would delay Rule 41's implementation. David Kravets covers this for Ars Technica. -- Twitter has suspended several accounts linked to the alt-right--super-conservative ideologues, many of whom promote white nationalism. The Southern Poverty Law Center had asked Twitter to remove about 100 accounts expressing white nationalist views for violation of Twitter's terms of service. Among the suspended accounts -- Richard Spencer, President of the National Policy Institute--an organization whose website says is "dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States." Spencer said Twitter's deletion of his account was akin to a "digital execution". USA Today notes that Spencer has called for removing blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Jews from the United States. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also apologized last week for allowing an ad promoting a white supremacist group. Jessica Guynn has the story at USA Today. -- Amar Toor at the Verge reported that China has threatened to cut iPhone sales if President-elect Trump follows through on his threat to declare China a currency manipulator and impose a 45% tariff on Chinese exports. China also threatened to limit automobile and other sales. -- It appears that the Trans-Pacific Partnership--the trade deal that would have enhanced American ties with 11 countries, counterbalancing China's influence in the region--appears to have been defeated even before President-elect Trump has taken office. The deal simply doesn't have enough votes in Congress, and President-elect Trump has stated he would oppose the deal. Elise Labott and Nicole Gaouette reported this for CNN. -- The GOP has successfully forced the FCC to cancel nearly its entire November open meeting agenda, which was supposed to take place last Thursday. Up for consideration were bulk data caps, the Mobility Fund, and a proposed rule on roaming obligations of mobile providers. One Freedom of Information Act request remained on the agenda. Senate Commerce Committee Chair John Thune had sent a letter to the FCC Tuesday warning against “complex, partisan, or otherwise controversial items.” Massachusetts Senator Markey blasted Thune's heavy-handed approach, with Thune responding that he was only referring to the most controversial items. Brendan Bordelon has the story in Morning Consult. -- Finally, the hold on Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel's nomination has been lifted. Democrats Ron Wyden and Ed Markey had put a hold on the Commissioner's nomination following her rejection of the set-top box competition proposal. Rosenworcel will need to be confirmed before the end of the Commission in order to stay on. Some analysts are speculating that Rosenworcel might vote in favor of the set-top box rules currently on circulation. Brendan Bordelon covers the story in Morning Consult.