In this episode, we cover OpenAI’s latest video-generation model Sora 2 (1:02), concrete harms and potential risks from deepfakes (5:18), the underlying technology and its history (27:03), and how policy can mitigate harms (36:31).

 In this episode, we are joined by Rep. Jay Obernolte, one of Congress’s leading voices on AI policy. We discuss his path from developing video games to serving in Congress (00:49), the work of the bipartisan House Task Force on AI and its final report (9:39), competing approaches to designing AI regulation in Congress (16:38), and prospects for federal preemption of state AI legislation (40:32).

Congressman Obernolte has represented California’s 23rd district since 2021. He co-chaired the bipartisan House Task Force on AI, leading the development of an extensive December 2024 report outlining a congressional agenda for AI. He also serves as vice-chair of the Congressional AI Caucus and is the only current member of Congress with an advanced degree in Artificial Intelligence, which he earned from UCLA in 1997. Rep. Obernolte previously served in the California State Legislature.

In this episode, we are joined by economist Harry Holzer to discuss how AI is set to transform labor. Holzer was Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor during the Clinton administration and is currently a Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University. We break down the fundamentals of the labor market (4:00) and the current and future impact of AI automation (10:30). Holzer also reacts to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's warning that AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs (23:32) and explains why we need better data capturing AI's impact on the labor market (52:53).

Harry Holzer recently co-authored a white paper titled "Proactively Developing & Assisting the Workforce in the Age of AI," which is available here.

In this episode, we dive into California's new AI transparency law, SB 53. We explore the bill's history (00:30), contrast it with the more controversial SB 1047 (6:43), break down the specific disclosure requirements for AI labs of different scales (13:38), and discuss how industry stakeholders and policy experts have responded to the legislation (29:47).

In this episode, we're joined by Joseph Majkut, Director of CSIS' Energy Security and Climate Change Program, to take an in-depth look at energy's role in AI. We explore the current state of the U.S. electrical grid (11:34), bottlenecks in the AI data center buildout (43:45), how U.S. energy efforts compare internationally (1:16:06), and more.

Joseph has co-authored three reports on AI and energy: AI for the Grid: Opportunities, Risks, and Safeguards (September 2025), The Electricity Supply Bottleneck on U.S. AI Dominance (March 2025), and The AI Power Surge: Growth Scenarios for GenAI Datacenters Through 2030 (March 2025).

In this episode, we discuss how today’s massive AI infrastructure investments compare to the Manhattan Project (00:33), China’s reported ban on Nvidia chips and its implications for export control policy (13:41), Anthropic’s $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors (33:49), and recent multibillion-dollar AI investments by Nvidia and ASML (44:42).

In this episode, we discuss China's focus on AI adoption (00:58), the underlying factors driving investor enthusiasm (14:51), and the national security implications of China's booming AI industry (31:47).

In this episode, we are joined by Marietje Schaake, former Member of the European Parliament, to unpack the EU AI Act Code of Practice. Schaake served as Chair of the Working Group on Internal Risk Management and Governance of General-Purpose AI Providers for the Code of Practice, with a focus on AI model safety and security. We discuss the development and drafting of the EU AI Act and Code of Practice (16:47), break down how the Code helps AI companies demonstrate compliance with the Act (28:25), and explore the kinds of systemic risks the AI Act seeks to address (32:00).

In this episode, we unpack the Trump administration’s $8.9 billion deal to acquire a 9.9% stake in Intel, examining the underlying logic, financial terms, and political reactions from across the spectrum (00:33). We then cover Nvidia’s sudden halt in H20 chip production for China, its plans for a Blackwell alternative, and what Beijing’s self-sufficiency push means for the AI race (28:18).

In this episode, we'll break down the Trump administration’s new licensing agreement with Nvidia and AMD for semiconductor exports and what this development means for U.S. national security (00:35), explore concerns about an AI-driven economic bubble (22:17), and unpack recent advancements for the federal government's adoption AI after the U.S. General Services Administration approved OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google as vendors (37:18).