As we approach the three-year mark of the war in Ukraine, and conflict continues to rage in the Middle East, technology has played a key role in these arenas—from cyber attacks and drones to propaganda efforts over social media. In Ukraine, SpaceX’s Starlink has blurred the lines between commercial and military communications, with the satellite broadband service supporting the Ukrainian army while becoming a target for signal jamming by Russia. What can we learn from these conflicts in Europe and the Middle East? What role will cyber and disinformation operations play in future wars? What has Ukraine taught us about the U.S. defense industrial base and defense technology? As China increases its aggression toward Taiwan and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific, how will technology play a role in either deterring a conflict or deciding its outcome? 

Evan is joined by Kevin B. Kennedy,  a recently retired United States Air Force lieutenant general who last served as commander of the Sixteenth Air Force. He previously served as Director for Operations at U.S. Cyber Command.

2024 has been a whirlwind year for tech policy, filled with landmark moments that could shape the industry for years to come. From the high-profile antitrust lawsuits aimed at Big Tech to intense discussions around data privacy and online safety for kids, the spotlight on how technology impacts our daily lives has never been brighter. Across the Atlantic, Europe continued its aggressive regulatory push, rolling out new frameworks with global implications. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., all eyes are on what changes might come to tech regulation after the election.

With all this upheaval, one thing remains constant: people love posting their Spotify Wrapped playlists at the end of the year. It’s a fun way to reflect on the hits (and maybe a few misses) of the past twelve months, so we thought, why not take a similar approach to tech policy?

In this episode ofThe Dynamist, Evan is joined by Luke Hogg, FAI’s Director of Policy and Outreach, and Josh Levine, FAI’s Tech Policy Manager, for a lively conversation breaking down the year’s biggest stories. Together, they revisit the key moments that defined 2024, from courtroom dramas to legislative battles, and share their thoughts on what’s next for 2025. Will AI regulations dominate the agenda? Could new leaders at U.S. agencies take tech in a bold new direction? Tune in to hear their reflections, predictions, and maybe even a few hot takes as they wrap up 2024 in tech policy.

There is growing concern among parents and policymakers over the Internet’s harms to children—from online pornography to social media. Despite that, Congress hasn’t passed any legislation on children’s online safety in decades. And while psychologists continue to debate whether and to what extent certain Internet content harms children, several states have stepped into the fray, passing legislation aimed at protecting kids in the digital age. One such state is Texas where Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 1181 in June of 2023.

The bill requires adult or online pornography websites to verify the age of users to prevent users under the age of 18 from accessing those sites. A group representing online porn sites sued, and the bill was enjoined by a district court, then partially upheld by the Fifth Circuit, and will now be heard by the Supreme Court in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, with oral arguments scheduled for January 15.

The ruling in this case could have major implications for efforts to regulate the online world both at the state and federal level—not just for porn but other online content social media. On today’s show, Evan moderates a debate on the following resolution: Texas's Age Verification (AV) Law is Constitutional and AV laws are an effective means of protecting children from online harms.

Arguing for the resolution is Adam Candeub, senior fellow at Center for Renewing America, professor of law at michigan state university, and formerly acting assistant secretary of commerce for telecommunications and information under President Trump. Arguing against the resolution is Robert Corn-Revere, chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Before that he was a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine law firm for 20 years and served in government as chief counsel to former Federal Communications Commission Chairman James Quello. You can read FIRE’s brief in the case here.

Is Medicare a valley of death for medical innovation? While the U.S. is seen as a global leader in medical device innovation, the $800+ billion program that covers healthcare costs for senior citizens has been slow to reimburse certain medical devices, even when those devices are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. On average, it takes Medicare 4.5 years to cover a new FDA-approved medical device. This length of time has been dubbed the “Valley of Death,” referring to the human cost of delay. 

While members of Congress and advocates in the med tech industry are pushing Medicare to streamline its process, CMS, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services, has sounded a note of caution, warning that moving too quickly fails to account for the unique needs and considerations of the Medicare population, Americans over 65 years old. 

Is this simply bureaucratic foot dragging, or are there legitimate safety and health risks with Medicare giving its blessing to new technologies and treatments? Is there a policy balance to be struck, where government health officials give seniors the unique consideration they need without denying them access to potentially life-saving treatments and devices?

Evan is joined by Katie Meyer, Vice President of Public Affairs at Novacure, a global oncology company working to extend survival in some of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Prior to that, she served in Congress in various roles, including as Deputy Health Policy Director at the Senate Finance Committee.

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.