POLITICO Tech

It’s been 270 days since President Joe Biden signed an executive order on artificial intelligence. That makes today a key deadline for the administration to release recommendations for how to make AI more safe and secure, including new guidelines the Commerce Department put out this morning. On POLITICO Tech, Elizabeth Kelly, the inaugural director of the U.S. AI Safety Institute, joins host Steven Overly to discuss the proposed guidelines and her office’s future.

Last November, Vice President Kamala Harris outlined the Biden administration’s vision for artificial intelligence regulation in a speech at the U.S. embassy in London. But the policy address, delivered on the eve of a major U.K. AI summit, left some British officials feeling upstaged. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Vincent Manancourt revisits the incident in light of Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

The French are planning a major global gathering — and we’re not talking about the Olympics. The AI Action Summit may still be months out, but planning is already well underway. And it’s an opportunity for President Emmanuel Macron’s government to flex its artificial intelligence ambitions. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Mohar Chatterjee sits down with Anne Bouverot, the French AI envoy tasked with organizing the event. 

Vice President Kamala Harris has raised a lot of money from Silicon Valley over the years. From her campaigns for California Attorney General and U.S. Senator, to her first run at the White House, she’s been backed by executives from the likes of Google, Microsoft and Apple. Now that Harris is more or less the presumptive Democratic nominee, will tech support her again? Adam Kovacevich, the founder and CEO of the tech industry group Chamber of Progress, is making the case for it. He explains on today’s POLITICO Tech.

Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected as president of the European Commission late last week. But another five years with her at the helm doesn’t necessarily mean more of the same tech policy. On POLITICO Tech, senior tech reporter Clothilde Goujard joins from Brussels to explain von der Leyen’s shifting focus from regulation to European competitiveness, and why it could put the European Union and U.S. on a collision course.

After the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, social media platforms lit up with conspiracies. Speculation about whether it was all a political ploy. Or an inside job. But it wasn’t just happening in the U.S. Emerson Brooking has been tracking Russian propaganda all week as the director of strategy at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. On POLITICO Tech, he joins host Steven Overly to talk about how the Kremlin spun the shooting and what that could mean for Russia’s disinformation playbook between now and Election Day.

The Republican National Convention wraps up tonight and, it turns out, tech wasn’t high up on the GOP’s agenda in Milwaukee. But POLITICO reporter Brendan Bordelon nevertheless tracked down the chatter about social media, TikTok, AI and more. He joins POLITICO Tech from Milwaukee to give us the grist on the ground.

In just over a decade, Republican J.D. Vance has risen from law school graduate to best-selling author to U.S. senator to vice presidential nominee. And fueling the ascent has been tech billionaire Peter Thiel. On POLITICO Tech, Brookings Institution senior fellow Darrell West joins host Steven Overly to explain this fortuitous relationship, and the impact it could have on Election Day and beyond.

Almost immediately after a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally over the weekend, leaving the former president with minor injuries, partisan misinformation and conspiracies flooded social media feeds. Chris Krebs has been tracking the attack and how the internet has responded — from U.S. lawmakers to Russian operatives — for cybersecurity firm SentinelOne. You may recognize Krebs’ name: He was the head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency until Trump fired him in 2020 for refuting claims the election was stolen. On POLITICO Tech, Krebs joins host Steven Overly to talk takeaways from the shooting’s social media aftermath.

The 2024 Republican National Convention is underway in Milwaukee, and we're sure to hear about ways that the GOP plans to dismantle President Joe Biden's legacy on the tech front. On today's POLITICO Tech, Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt joins host Steven Overly to talk about the Inflation Reduction Act money he's leveraged to bring more clean tech manufacturing to his state — and why he wants incentives to continue. Plus, Stitt’s plans to replace state employees with artificial intelligence.