The Dynamist

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a once sleepy, three-letter agency in Washington that serves as the nation’s general purpose consumer protection regulator—dealing with everything from deceptive advertising to fraud. In recent years, however, the FTC has become somewhat of a household name thanks to current chair Lina Khan and high-profile cases against tech giants Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon. While some populists on right and left have praised the agency for taking on big business, others, particularly in the business community, have railed against the agency for an anti-business stance and preventing legitimate mergers and acquisitions.

Conservatives and Republicans have generally been skeptical of antitrust enforcement and government regulation, but in recent years they have been rethinking how to apply their philosophy in an era when trillion-dollar tech behemoths could be threats to online free speech. And as concerns around other tech issues like data privacy and children’s online safety continue to persist, the FTC sits at the center of it all as the nation’s de facto tech regulator. Is there a balance to be struck between Khan’s aggressive enforcement and the lax treatment preferred by the business world? And how should the agency tackle challenges like artificial intelligence?

Who better to help answer these questions than one of agency’s five commissioners. Evan is joined by Andrew Ferguson, one of two Republican commissioners at FTC. Prior to that, he was the solicitor general of Virginia and chief counsel to Republican senate leader Mitch McConnell. 

President-elect Trump recently announced that entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk had forecast the idea in the tail end of the presidential election, championing a commission focused on cutting government spending and regulation. In a statement posted to Truth Social, the president-elect said DOGE would “pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.” For his part, Musk said “this will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot people.”

Government waste has long been a focus for Republicans in Washington. The phrase “waste, fraud, and abuse” often generates a chuckle in DC circles, given how much the federal bureaucracy, government spending, and the national debt have grown despite decades of professed fiscal hawkishness. While critics of Trump and Musk are rolling their eyes at what they perceive as a toothless commission, proponents welcome the focus on government efficiency from the president-elect and the world’s richest man, and are optimistic that Musk and Ramaswamy’s expertise in the business world would bring much-needed outside perspectives on how to optimize the federal government.

The Foundation for American Innovation has operated a project on government efficiency and tech modernization since 2019. FAI fellows just published a new paper on the topic of “An Efficiency Agenda for the Executive Branch.” To discuss DOGE, the challenges of streamlining bureaucracy, how AI might play a role in the efforts, and what Congress can do to help make DOGE a success, Evan is joined by Sam Hammond, Senior Economist at FAI and Dan Lips, Head of Policy at FAI. For a quick take on FAI's recommendations, check out Dan's oped in The Hill  linked here.

Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Republicans won control of the Senate, and the GOP is slated to maintain control of the House. If you turn on cable news, you will see many pundits playing monday morning quarterback in the wake of this Republican trifecta, arguing about the merits of how people voted, speculating on cabinet secretaries, and pointing fingers on who to blame, or who to give credit to, for the results. 

But this is The Dynamist, not CNN. In today’s show, we focus on what the results mean for tech policy and tech politics. There are ongoing antitrust cases against Meta, Google, Apple, and Amazon. Investigations into Microsoft, Open AI, and Nvidia. How might the new president impact those cases? Congress is considering legislation to protect children from the harms of social media. Will we see action in the lame duck session or will the issue get kicked to January when the new Congress settles in? What about AI? Trump has vowed to repeal Biden’s Executive Order on artificial intelligence. What, if anything, might replace it? And for those in Silicon Valley who supported Trump, from Elon Musk to Peter Thiel, how might they wield influence in the new administration?

Evan is joined by Nathan Leamer, CEO of Fixed Gear Strategies and Executive Director of Digital First Project, and Ellen Satterwhite, Senior Director at Invariant, a government relations and strategic communications firm in DC. Both Nathan and Ellen previously served in government at the Federal Communications Commission—Nathan under President Trump and Ellen under President Obama.

When people hear 'quantum physics,' they often think of sci-fi movies using terms like 'quantum realm' to explain away the impossible. But today we're talking about quantum computing, which has moved beyond science fiction into reality. Companies like IBM and Google are racing to build machines that could transform medicine, energy storage, and our understanding of the universe.

But there's a catch: these same computers could potentially break most of the security protecting our digital lives, from WhatsApp messages to bank transfers to military secrets. To address this threat, the National Institute of Standards and Technology recently released quantum-safe cryptography standards, while new government mandates are pushing federal agencies to upgrade their security before quantum systems become cryptographically relevant—in other words, vulnerable to hacks by quantum computers.

To help us understand both the promise and peril of quantum computing, we're joined by Travis Scholten, Technical Lead in the Public Sector at IBM and former quantum computing researcher at the company. He’s also a former policy hacker at FAI, author of the Quantum Stack newsletter and co-author of a white paper on the benefits and risks of quantum computers. 

When voters head to the polls next week, tech policy won't be top of mind—polling shows immigration, the economy, abortion, and democracy are the primary concerns. Yet Silicon Valley's billionaire class is playing an outsized role in this election, throwing millions at candidates and super PACs while offering competing visions for America's technological future.

The tech industry is in a much different place in 2024 than in past elections. Big Tech firms, who once enjoyed minimal government oversight, now face a gauntlet of regulatory challenges—from data privacy laws to antitrust lawsuits. While some tech leaders are hedging their bets between candidates, others are going all in for Harris or Trump—candidates who offer different, if not fully developed, approaches to regulation and innovation.

Trump's vision emphasizes a return to American technological greatness with minimal government interference, attracting support from figures like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen despite Silicon Valley's traditionally Democratic lean. Harris presents a more managed approach, a generally pro-innovation stance tempered by a desire for government to help shape AI and other tech outcomes. Democratic donors like Mark Cuban and Reid Hoffman are backing Harris while hoping she'll soften Biden's tough antitrust stance. Meanwhile, crypto billionaires are flexing their political muscle, working to unseat skeptics in Congress after years of scrutiny under Biden's financial regulators.

What are these competing visions for technology, and how would each candidate approach tech policy if elected? Will 2024 reshape the relationship between Silicon Valley and Washington? Evan is joined by Derek Robertson, a veteran tech policy writer who authors the Digital Future Daily newsletter for Politico.

*Correction: The audio clip of Trump was incorrectly attributed to his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience. The audio is from Trump’s appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show

Over the past few years, Elon Musk’s political evolution has been arguably as rapid and disruptive as one of his tech ventures. He has transformed from a political moderate to a vocal proponent of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement and his outspokenness on issues like illegal immigration make him an outlier among tech entrepreneurs and CEOs.

Musk's increasing political involvement has added a layer of scrutiny to his businesses, particularly as SpaceX aims to secure more contracts and regulatory permissions. Labor tensions also loom, with Tesla facing unionization efforts and accusations of unfair labor practices, adding a wrinkle into an election where both presidential candidates are vying for the labor vote in the midst of several high-profile strikes this year.

Through all this, Musk’s companies—SpaceX, Tesla, and X—are pressing forward, but the stakes have arguably never been higher with regulatory bodies and the court of public opinion keeping a close watch. Many conservatives have embraced Musk as a Randian hero of sorts, a champion of free speech and innovation. Others sound a note of caution, warning that his emphasis on “efficiency” could undermine certain conservative values, and question whether his record on labor and China are worth celebrating. So, should conservatives embrace, or resist, Musk-ification? 

Evan is joined by Chris Griswold, Policy Director at American Compass, a New Right think tank based in DC. Check out his recent piece, “Conservatives Must Resist Musk-ification.” Previously, he served as an advisor to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, where he focused on innovation, small business, and entrepreneurship.

Have tech companies become more powerful than governments? As the size and reach of firms like Google and Apple have increased, there is growing concern that these multi-trillion dollar companies are too powerful and have started replacing important government functions.

The products and services of these tech giants are ubiquitous and pillars of modern life. Governments and businesses increasingly rely on cloud services like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services to function. Elon Musk's Starlink has provided internet access in the flood zones of North Carolina and the battlefields of Ukraine. Firms like Palantir are integrating cutting-edge AI into national defense systems.

In response to these rapid changes, and resulting concerns, regulators in Europe and the U.S. have proposed various measures—from antitrust actions to new legislation like the EU's AI Act. Critics warn  that overzealous regulation could stifle the very innovation that has driven economic growth and technological advancement, potentially ceding Western tech leadership to China. Others, like our guest, argue that these actions to rein in tech don’t go nearly far enough, and that governments must do more to take back the power she says that tech companies have taken from nation states.

Evan and Luke are joined by Marietje Schaake, a former MEP and current fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center. She is the author of The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley. You can read her op-ed in Foreign Affairs summarizing the book.

On September 29th, Governor Newsom vetoed SB 1047, a controversial bill aimed at heading off catastrophic risks of large AI models. We previously covered the bill on The Dynamist in episode 64. In a statement, Newsom cited the bill’s “stringent standards to even the most basic functions” and said he does “not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology.” Senator Scott Wiener, the bill’s author, responded, “This veto leaves us with the troubling reality that companies aiming to create an extremely powerful technology face no binding restrictions from U.S. policymakers[.]”

The bill had passed the California senate back in August by a vote of 30-9, having been the subject of fierce debate between AI companies big and small and researchers and advocates who fear a catastrophic AI event. Proponents want to get ahead of AI cyberattacks, AI weapons development, or doomsday scenarios by making developers liable to implement safety protocols.  Opponents argue that the bill will stifle innovation in California, calling it an “assault on open source” and a “harm to the budding AI ecosystem.”

Aside from the merits of the legislation, it is arguably the first major political fight over AI in the U.S. where competing interests fought all the way to the governor’s desk, attempting to sway the pen of Governor Newsom. The story featured a cast of characters from California Democrats like Nancy Pelosi to  billionaires like Elon Musk to major companies like Google and OpenAI. What does this battle say about who holds sway in emerging AI politics? What are the factions and alignments? And what does this all mean for next year in California and beyond?

Evan is joined by Sam Hammond, Senior Economist at FAI and author of the Substack Second Best, and Dean Ball, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, author of the Substack Hyperdimensional, and a non-resident fellow at FAI.

Since the advent of platforms like Uber, Instacart, and DoorDash, the so-called gig economy has been intertwined with technology. While the apps no doubt created loads of opportunity for people seeking flexible work on their own schedules, they have been lambasted by critics who say they don’t provide drivers and grocery shoppers with a minimum wage and health benefits.

This tech-labor debate has largely played out in state legislatures and in the courts. Voters have weighed in as well, with gig companies DoorDash and Lyft spending some $200 million to win the Prop 22 ballot initiative in California that exempted their workers from new labor laws. Should Uber be forced to provide benefits to employees? Should government stay out and let these markets continue to operate?

As labor leaders and progressive lawmakers continue to battle with the companies, and governments, companies, and unions struggle to apply old principles to an increasingly digital economy, some argue for a third way, including our guest today. Wingham Rowan is the founder and managing director of Modern Markets for All, a non-profit that develops infrastructure for people working outside of traditional 9-5 jobs. Prior to that, he was a TV host and producer at the BBC. Read more about his work at PeoplesCapitalism.org. 

When the average person thinks of nuclear energy, there’s a good chance they’re thinking in terms influenced by pop culture—Homer Simpson’s union job at the Springfield plant, or the HBO miniseries Chernobyl, which dramatized the world’s biggest meltdown.

For all its promise in the mid-20th century, U.S. nuclear energy largely stalled in the 1970s and 80s. While public anxiety over its safety played a role, experts have pointed to the hefty cost of building plants and poor regulatory/policy decisions as having more impact. But in recent years, as demand for low-carbon energy surges and companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google are burning through energy to train artificial intelligence, there is a renewed interest in making nuclear work in this century.

But concerns over cost and safety remain, and even among proponents of nuclear energy, there is a robust debate about exactly how to approach future builds, whether to rely on conventional methods or hold off until new research potentially yields a smaller, more cost-effective method of unlocking atomic energy. What is the state of nuclear power in the U.S. and around the world today? What policies could shape its future? And how might AI, other market dynamics, geopolitics, and national security concerns impact the debate and its outcomes?

Evan is joined by Emmet Penney, the creator of Nuclear Barbarians, a newsletter and podcast about industrial history and energy politics, and a contributing editor at COMPACT magazine. Thomas Hochman, Policy Manager at FAI, is also joining. You can read Emmet’s recent piece on how why nuclear energy is a winning issue for the populist GOP here. You can read Thomas’s piece for The New Atlantis on “nuclear renaissance” here, and his writeup of the ADVANCE Act here.