Tech'ed Up

Former Ambassador and Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund, Karen Kornbluh, joins Niki in the Tech’ed Up studio for a rollicking conversation about whether tech policy is passé, the ongoing Twitter implosion, and misinformation being a loser. This conversation covers the erosion of trust in institutions, cynicism as a by product of social media, and the power of storytelling to combat both.

"I hope we can get past the techlash to see it as technology as we used to, which is with this sense of optimism and magic." -Karen Kornbluh

○ Read Karen’s New York Times profile
○ Donate to Wikipedia
○ Follow Niki on Twitter

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Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy at Circle joins Niki in the studio hot on the heels of the FTX meltdown in this episode of Tech’ed Up.  They discuss the need for regulation, the role of stablecoins, and the argument for optimism about the future of crypto.   

"…you cannot say as a representative of the people that you care about protecting consumers and markets and do nothing about sensible legislation and sensible regulation for the industry in the United States." -Dante Disparte

• Learn more about Circle
• Check out Dante’s Website
• Follow Niki on Twitter
• Watch "Inside Job"

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Washington Post reporter Nitasha Tiku joins Niki remotely to discuss the latest innovations in AI. We get to know LaMDA, the AI a Google engineer believes is conscious, and discuss the brand new text-to-image generator, DALL-E. We also wax philosophical about the impact of sci-fi on our understanding of AI technology.  Nitasha dives beneath the fun and viral consumer developments in AI to explore what’s lurking beneath.   

"When you think about that's what's undergirding this generative technology that you want to use to power the next phase of the internet it should make you pause and think." -Nitasha Tiku

• LaMDA "The Google engineer who thinks its AI has come alive"
• DALL-E "AI can now create any image in seconds, bringing wonder and danger"
• Follow Nitasha on Twitter
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Bloomberg reporter Mark Bergen joins Niki remotely to discuss his new book “Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination.”  We dive into the behind-the-scenes impact Google has had on shaping YouTube into the search juggernaut it is today.  Mark details the outsized influence YouTube has on the social media landscape while remaining a “sleeping giant” largely ignored by regulators and protected from much of the “techlash” its competitors have faced.

"My optimistic take is that all this new pressure on regulation could force YouTube to disclose and be a lot more transparent of a place." -Mark Bergen

Links:

• Buy Mark’s Book ”Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domnation” 
• New Yorker review
• Follow Niki on Twitter

• Learn More at www.techedup.com
• Check out video on YouTube
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General Counsel of Ripple Labs, Stu Alderoty, joins Niki in the studio to discuss the need for Washington to establish regulatory clarity for digital assets.   He takes listeners on a deep dive into how blockchain can simplify cross-border payments, the crypto industry’s appetite for clear regulations, and Ripple’s engagement in D.C. – including litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“...we don't want to be free of regulation. We're not asking for this to be the Wild West. We want regulation, but we want regulation that is clear. And we want regulation that we can understand, and regulation that we can follow, and regulation that is suited to the technology.” - Stu Alderoty

Links: 

• Follow Stuart on Twitter
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• Learn More at www.techedup.com
• Check out video on YouTube
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VP and Head of Global Communications at Grindr and long-time tech veteran, Patrick Lenihan, joins Niki remotely to talk about the iconic dating app. The company is both a “start-up” and one of the first-ever geospatial social networking applications…and now it’s preparing to go public. The conversation ranges from Grindr itself to the company’s business, mission, and current work to bring public health information to the LGBTQ+ community. 

"It's a great business. It's got an amazing social mission. We've got awesome people." -Patrick Lenihan

• Learn more about Grindr
• Follow Patrick on Twitter

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Washington Post reporter Tory Newmyer joins Niki in the studio to discuss his coverage of the crypto lobby’s full-court press in Washington. Tory’s watched and reported as the crypto lobby exploded within the last year. In this episode, he joins Niki to discuss what’s working, what’s not, and what’s coming next for the industry’s expanding influence campaign.

"…it  [the infrastructure bill] woke crypto up to this idea that Washington did, does present an existential threat. And you may not care about Washington. But Washington cares about you. And that is a realization that waves of the tech industry, I think have kind of gone through over the last 20 years. But crypto got it so fast." -Tory Newmyer

• Read “Crypto finds a bright spot in stormy summer”
• Follow Tory on Twitter
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• Learn More at www.techedup.com
• Check out video on YouTube
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Commissioner Brendan Carr of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) joins Niki in the studio to discuss his concerns about the viral video app TikTok. Do TikTok’s data practices pose a threat to our national security by collecting and sharing information with the Chinese Community Party? In this episode, Commissioner Carr gives his take on the situation and the stakes.

"…that just exposed years of TikTok lobbying in D.C. as being nothing more than gaslighting. Because once this data is accessed from inside China, then can you bar the door?  There's no protection. " -Brendan Carr

• Follow Commissioner Carr on Twitter
• Follow Niki on Twitter
• Read Buzzfeed's report: "The TikTok Tapes"
• "TikTok Browser Can Track Users' Keystrokes" (NYT)

• Learn More at www.techedup.com
• Check out video on YouTube
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Physicist and Rhodes Scholar, Sean Gourley, founded Primer, a start-up building mission-critical AI capabilities for the United States and its closest allies. He joins Niki in the studio to discuss Silicon Valley’s ambivalence about building and selling defense capabilities necessary to protect democracies. He explains how artificial intelligence is a “third offset” – following nuclear weapons and precision munitions – that could end a war in just 72 hours. And China is hyper-focused on overtaking the United States in this arms race.

“AI is a technology so powerful that the country that wields it will quickly defeat any opponent who does not.” -Sean Gourley

• Learn more about Primer and AI in Warfare
• Follow Sean on Twitter
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Co-founder of venture capital firm Dynamo,  Santosh Sankar, joins Niki from Chattanooga to explain how the supply chain became everyone’s business during the pandemic - and the solutions his portfolio companies are building to fix it.

“In the background has been this thing, supply chain, and when it works, we don't think about it. When it breaks down, there's a lot of concern, and there's a lot of conversation to be had.”  -Santosh Sankar

• Listen to The Future of Supply Chain podcast
• Follow Santosh on Twitter
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• Learn More at www.techedup.com
• Check out video on YouTube
• Follow Niki on LinkedIn