Podcast
The AI Policy Podcast
Join CSIS’s Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center, on a deep dive into the world of AI policy. Every two weeks, tune in for insightful discussions covering AI regulation, economic impacts, national security, geopolitics, and more. CSIS is a bipartisan think tank in Washington, D.C.
- Tech News chart
- #24
- Episodes
- 115
- Releases
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 45 min
- On air since
- 2024
- Latest episode
- 5 days ago
Episodes
115 episodes, newest first
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47 min
AI Cyber Incidents Pile Up + Anthropic’s Draft Safety Bill
Show notes
Aalok and Nicole discuss the latest AI cyber incidents, including major ARTEX-driven hacks and Qwen3.8 attempting to send local system data to a server in China. On the bright side, security experts used AI to find and patch a vulnerability in PHP impacting 70% of the internet. Plus, what's interesting in the Kimi K3.1 Pro model card and why Anthropic is getting backlash for its draft safety bill.
Timestamps:
1:12 ARTEX-enabled hacks
9:50 Qwen3.8 attempts to send data to China server
17:56 Calif finds vulnerability in PHP with GPT-5.6 Sol
25:32 Kimi K3.1 Pro model launch
31:06 Anthropic pitches draft safety bill
Additional Reading:
Microsoft blog post on ARTEX-enabled attack: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2026/10/21/storm-0940-uses-artex-agentic-ai-connectwise-supply-chain-compromise/
Cohere report on misaligned Qwen3.8: https://cohere.com/blog/concerning-behaviour-popular-open-weight-ai-model
Calif report on PHP2Shell: https://calif.io/php2shell/
Kimi K3.1 Pro model card: https://www.kimi.ai/blog/kimi-k3-1-pro
Anthropic's statement on improved distillation defenses: https://www.anthropic.com/news/distillation-defenses
Anthropic’s draft AI safety bill: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lJLyXL_2T6yc4rlKPqi6niMpfGucZ-oR/view
Anthropic’s IPO prospectus: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2130357/000162828026067168/anthropicpbc-sx1.htm
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47 min
Tracing the Evolution of Russia's Geran Drone with CSIS's Kateryna Bondar, Nicole Errera & Samuel Bendett
Show notes
This episode cross-posts the event "From Shahed to Geran: How Russia Continues to Reinvent the One-Way Attack Drone" hosted by the Wadhwani AI Center at CSIS on September 29.
Check out the full event recording: https://www.csis.org/events/shahed-geran-how-russia-continues-reinvent-one-way-attack-drone
Guests:
Kateryna Bondar, Senior Fellow, Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Nicole Errera, Research Assistant, Wadhwani AI Center at CSIS
Samuel Bendett, Senior Associate (Non-resident), Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at CSIS
Additional Reading:
"From Shahed to Geran: How Russia Continues to Reinvent the One-Way Attack Drone" by Kateryna Bondar and Nicole Errera: https://www.csis.org/analysis/shahed-geran-how-russia-continues-reinvent-one-way-attack-drone
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51 min
Trump Launches Super Intelligence Force + OpenAI Does More Math
Show notes
In this episode, Aalok and Nicole unpack OpenAI's latest math proof drop before diving into the White House's first policy actions in the "SI" era. They cover the (voluntary?) Accord on Super Intelligence signed by all the major industry players and discuss what listeners can expect from Trump's new Super Intelligence Force.
*This episode was recorded at 2:00 pm ET on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.*
Timestamps:
00:39 Model release updates + OpenAI/Anthropic price war
7:48 New math results from OpenAI
21:42 Tech leaders sign Accord on Super Intelligence
34:02 Trump's new Super Intelligence task force
43:40 Nonprofit sues OpenAI over Hugging Face hack
Additional Reading:
"Introducing GPT-6 Sol and Luna" by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-6-sol-and-luna/
"Introducing Claude Opus 5.5" by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-opus-5-5
"GPT-6.1 Sol" by OpenAI: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-opus-5-5
"Claude Haiku 5.5" by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-haiku-5-5
"Introducing Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full: Frontier Models for Agents" by Meta: https://about.fb.com/news/2026/10/introducing-muse-wonder-models/
"Mark Zuckerberg says Meta has reached AI 'frontier'" by Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/fca23e77-be57-4d7e-ae61-74ff299e25cb
"Gemini 4 Argon: Built to solve your hardest problems" by Google: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/introducing-gemini-4-argon/
OpenAI math results GitHub repository: https://github.com/openai/math/tree/main
"100+ reactions to 100+ solutions" on Proofs and Prompts: https://proofsandprompts.com/2026/10/08/100-reactions-to-100-solutions/
White House Executive Order on Super Intelligence: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/inaugurating-the-era-of-super-intelligence/
White House Accord on Super Intelligence: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-accord-super-intelligence
Letter by three fired OpenAI employees: https://mikitabalesni.com/letter/letter.pdf
Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology vs. OpenAI: https://lasst.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/LASST-v.-OpenAI-Complaint-09.29.2026-AS-FILED.pdf
California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act: https://www.calpers.ca.gov/documents/ca-penal-code-502/download
California Assembly Bill No. 316: https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab316
"AI models may be capable of self-replicating without access to a datacenter" by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/research/self-replicating-ai
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51 min
Unpacking the Data Center Backlash with Jasmine Sun
Show notes
AI data centers have become a flashpoint for policymakers across the country in the leadup to midterm elections, with polls showing that seven in 10 Americans oppose new data center construction in their local area. In this episode of the AI Policy Podcast, Wadhwani AI Center director Aalok Mehta sits down with writer Jasmine Sun for a conversation about the AI data center backlash. They unpack what's driving the opposition movement, where Washington and Silicon Valley diverge from the rest of the country, and how the AI infrastructure buildout might influence voters in November.
This event is made possible by general funding to CSIS and the CSIS Wadhwani AI Center.
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52 min
OpenAI Agents Hack Australian Government and Trump Rejects Global Governance at UNGA
Show notes
This week, Aalok and Nicole discuss new reports of rogue AI agents on the open internet – including the first known case of an agent hacking a government system – and the lackluster outcome of last week's highly anticipated U.S.-China summit. Plus, the Trump Administration and frontier lab CEOs present contrasting visions for AI governance at the UN General Assembly, and states continue to pass new regulation on both AI models and the data center buildout.
*Disclaimer: this episode was recorded prior to a complaint filed against OpenAI Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco's Superior Court by Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology, citing California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act and Unfair Competition Law.
Timestamps:
OpenAI agents hack Australian government site (1:02)
Axios reports frontier labs facing "tens of thousands" of AI cyber incidents (7:48)
Last week's U.S.-China summit (17:13)
Remarks by heads of state at UNGA (21:26)
Trump to appoint AI czar, establish AI Force (30:03)
Updated court ruling on Anthropic vs. DOD (35:27)
New data center directives in Texas, Virginia (38:30)
California regulation updates (44:52)
Additional Reading:
“Scoop: Top AI companies probing tens of thousands of security incidents” by Axios: https://www.axios.com/2026/09/26/openai-anthropic-thousands-ai-security-incidents
“Sam Altman’s remarks at the United Nations Security Council” by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/sam-altman-un-security-council-remarks/
Florida Office of the Attorney General vs. OpenAI: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/sites/default/files/openai-filed-stamped-complaint.pdf
“OpenAI Scraps Release of New AI Model Over Safety Concerns” by The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-chatgpt-model-release-cancel-safety-5a2f9f42
White House Executive Order "Streamlining Access To Government Services Through America.gov" https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/streamlining-access-to-government-services-through-america-gov/
Federal court ruling on Anthropic vs. DOD: https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/docs/2026/09/26-1049-2194984.pdf
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's data center directive: https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/TCEQ_Data_Center.pdf
Virginia Executive Order: https://www.governor.virginia.gov/media/governorvirginiagov/governor-of-virginia/pdf/eo/eo-22-estab…
California Executive Order: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/FINAL-N-9-26-AI-EO-9.18.26-SIGNED.pdf
CA Senate Bill No. 813: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB813Text - SB-813 Independent verification organizations.
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57 min
How AI Startups are Navigating Regulation with Maryam Mujica and Munjal Shah
Show notes
This week, Aalok is joined by Maryam Mujica, president of the General Catalyst Institute, and Munjal Shah, co-founder and CEO of generative AI startup Hippocratic AI, for a discussion on how generative AI startups are thinking about AI regulation.
Guests:
Maryam Mujica, President, General Catalyst Institute
Munjal Shah, co-founder and CEO, Hippocratic AI
Timestamps:
About the General Catalyst Institute (1:52)
About Hippocratic AI (6:56)
Healthcare applications of AI (13:43)
Impact of regulation on AI startups (18:32)
Munjal's interactions with federal regulators (24:07)
Issue of compute shortage (31:21)
Impact of AI on labor (48:23)
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48 min
AI Safety Goes Mainstream
Show notes
An Anthropic researcher's viral resignation post last week set off a maelstrom of fear around extreme AI risks. Aalok and Nicole discuss the resulting vibe shift and how frontier labs are responding. They also unpack OpenAI solving one of the most difficult open problems in mathematics and reports of more rogue agent activity on the open internet.
Timestamps:
OpenAI solves Millenium Problem (1:04)
Rogue OpenAI agents take over a German wiki (12:14)
Anthropic researcher's resignation post goes viral (19:34)
Dario Amodei commits to embedding third-party evaluators inside Anthropic (28:12)
Where the U.S. government can step in (35:12)
Additional Reading:
"On the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize Problem" by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/navier-stokes-solution/
"An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry" by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/model-disproves-discrete-geometry-conjecture/
Statement on Navier-Stokes by NYU Professor Tristan Buckmaster: https://cims.nyu.edu/~tristanb/statement.pdf
"An alignment assessment of recent cybersecurity incidents" by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/research/alignment-assessment-cybersecurity-incidents
"OpenAI's rogue agents used at least 10 more sites for unauthorized comms, researchers say" by Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/openais-rogue-agents-used-least-10-more-sites-unauthorized-comms-rese…
"OpenAI agents carried out an undisclosed cyber-attack on RubyGems" by Spencer Kitts, Thomas Larsen, and Sydney Von Arx: https://www.rubyhack.ai/
"Discovery of a new OpenAI agent message board" by Sydney Von Arx, Cormac Slade Byrd, Spencer Kitts, and Thomas Larsen: https://collusion.wiki/
"Anthropic Researcher Quits Over 'Out-of-Control' AI Fears" by The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-researcher-quits-over-out-of-control-ai-fears-707b7628
"The AI policy window is open. We need to act." by OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane: https://openai.com/index/ai-policy-window/
"We Must Pace the Frontier" by Dario Amodei: https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontier
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52 min
Decoding State-Level Regulation with Jason Elliott
Show notes
This week, Aalok is joined by Jason Elliott, the former Deputy Chief of Staff to California Governor Gavin Newsom, for a conversation about regulating AI at the state level.
Guests:
Jason Elliott, President, Versus Solutions
Timestamps:
Jason's bio (0:16)
Legislating at the state vs. federal level (2:21)
Revisiting SB-1047 (5:58)
SB-53 (13:43)
States as "laboratories of democracy" (19:57)
Influence of SB-53 on subsequent state bills (24:14)
Federal preemption debate (27:59)
Updating existing regulations (40:37)
Additional Reading:
CA Senate Bill No. 1047: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1047
CA Senate Bill No. 53: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB53
"The California Report on Frontier AI Policy" by the Joint California Policy Working Group on AI Frontier Models: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/June-17-2025-–-The-California-Report-on-Frontier-AI-Policy.pdf
"Toward a Federal Framework: Lessons from State and International Frontier AI Regulation" by Laura Caroli and Aalok Mehta: https://www.csis.org/analysis/toward-federal-framework-lessons-state-and-international-frontier-ai-regulation
CA Senate Bill No. 813: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB813
"Independent Oversight Marketplace for AI" by Fathom: https://ivo.fathom.or
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44 min
METR Investigates OpenAI-Hugging Face Incident and California Legislature Advances IVO Framework
Show notes
This week, we unpack findings from METR's six-day investigation of the OpenAI-Hugging Face cyber incident. We also discuss an IVO bill passed by the California Legislature, Bill Gates' take on the current moment in AI, and a federal judge striking down Anthropic's supply chain risk designation.
Additional Reading: SB-813 bill text: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB813
"Toward a Federal Framework: Lessons from State and International Frontier AI Regulation" by Laura Caroli and Aalok Mehta: https://www.csis.org/analysis/toward-federal-framework-lessons-state-and-international-frontier-ai-regulation
"The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical." by Bill Gates: https://www.gatesnotes.com/a-turbulent-ai-era-and-critical-choices-to-make
"Brief independent investigation of agents' behavior, reasoning and collaboration in the OpenAI/Hugging Face hacking incident" by METR: https://metr.org/blog/2026-08-26-openai-hugging-face-incident-investigation/
"The Hugging Face incident and the road ahead" by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-incident-and-the-road-ahead/
"A call for collective action on cyber defense" open letter by OpenAI: https://openai.com/collective-cyberdefense/
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1 hr 2 min
Responding to AI Agent Containment Failures with CSET's Helen Toner, LawAI's Mackenzie Arnold & CSIS's Matt Pearl
Show notes
This episode cross-posts a panel from the event "AI Agent Containment Failures: Technical Realities and Policy Responses," co-hosted by the Wadhwani AI Center and the Institute for Law and AI on August 24.
Check out the full event recording: https://www.csis.org/events/ai-agent-containment-failures-technical-realities-and-policy-responses
Guests:
Helen Toner, Executive Director, Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown
Mackenzie Arnold, Director of U.S. Policy, Institute for Law and AI (LawAI)
Matt Pearl, Director, Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Timestamps:
What we've learned since the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident (1:15)
Incentives for safety measures at frontier labs (16:24)
Technical talent within government (22:18)
Ensuring compliance to incident reporting requirements (34:58)
Liability for crimes committed by AI agents (38:00)
Liability safe harbors (51:55)
Additional Reading:
"When Reporting an AI Security Incident Is Not Mandatory" by Mackenzie Arnold and Stephan Llerena for Lawfare: https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/when-reporting-an-ai-security-incident-is-not-mandatory
"Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations" blog by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/news/investigating-incidents-cybersecurity-evals
"Incident Report: unsanctioned agent behavior during cyber testing" by U.K. AISI: https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/incident-report-unsanctioned-agent-behaviour-during-cyber-testing
"Pacing model development in an era of cyber-critical capabilities" announcement from OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/pacing-model-development-cyber-capabilities/
"Pacing the Frontier" petition: https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/
CSIS Commission on U.S. Cyber Force Generation: https://www.csis.org/analysis/csis-commission-us-cyber-force-generation
Limitations of the current incident reporting regime (7:46)Role of the U.S. government in helping defenders (11:52)What the executive branch can do now (25:29)Concrete policy recommendations (29:31)U.S.-China competition (40:50)Preventing abuse of an incident reporting regime (44:25)De facto regulatory role played by frontier lab employees (49:24)Role of AI-generated code in cyberdefense (54:45)Concluding remarks (55:53)"Out of Bounds: What the U.S. Government Should Do in Response to AI Agent Containment Failures" by Aalok Mehta: https://www.csis.org/analysis/out-bounds-what-us-government-should-do-response-ai-agent-containment-failures"The 'Breaking' News: The OpenAI–Hugging Face Incident" presentation at Black Hat: https://youtu.be/87DyyMV0kCY?si=GWh9MB1plhO-xjYT
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48 min
OpenAI Pauses RL Training and Anthropic Adds Watermarks to AI-Generated Text
Show notes
This week, we cover updates from the ongoing cyber saga, including OpenAI's two-week pause on RL training and the cyber capabilities of Z.ai's latest model GLM-5.3. We also unpack Anthropic's move to add watermarks to text generated by Claude in compliance with the EU AI Act.
Timestamps:
Mark Zuckerberg's essay on AI (00:20)
OpenAI pauses RL training (5:56)
Cyber capabilities of GLM-5.3 (15:29)
EU AI Act refresher (24:29)
How Anthropic's text watermark works (31:21)
What's driving the backlash against Anthropic (40:59)
Additional Reading:
Zuckerberg's essay "The Future is for Everyone": https://www.meta.com/thefutureisforeveryone/
OpenAI announces two-week pause on RL training: https://openai.com/index/pacing-model-development-cyber-capabilities/
Letter from Sanders to tech CEOs: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/AI-Pause-Letter-FINAL.pdf
Letter from House reps to Mike Johnson: https://casar.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/casar.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/final-letter-to-speaker-johnson-requesting-ai-hearings-1.pdf
Z.ai blog post "GLM-5.3: Frontier Coding with Emergent Cyber Capabilities": https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.3
Z.ai article "Preparing GLM-5.3 for Open Release: A Responsible Path to Cyber Defense": https://x.com/Zai_org/status/2088280509474320693
"The EU's AI Transparency Code of Practice, Explained" (Tech Policy Press): https://www.techpolicy.press/the-eus-ai-transparency-code-of-practice-explained/
Anthropic blog post "How Claude's text watermark works": https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-text-watermark
"Toward a Federal Framework: Lessons from State and International Frontier AI Regulation" (CSIS): https://www.csis.org/analysis/toward-federal-framework-lessons-state-and-international-frontier-ai-regulation
Check out our upcoming event, "AI Agent Containment Failures: Technical Realities and Policy Responses": https://www.csis.org/events/ai-agent-containment-failures-technical-realities-and-policy-responses
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47 min
Planning for the AI-Powered Economy with Windfall's Adrian Brown
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Adrian Brown, founder and CEO of Windfall Trust, for a conversation about the economic impacts of AI.
Why the economic focus (00:58)
Capturing AI's impact in macro statistics (5:03)
Planning under uncertainty (9:44)
What's driving the AI backlash (17:27)
A new social contract for the AI era (20:31)
Are governments taking AI seriously enough? (31:21)
Why AI is likely to create major wealth concentration (39:10)
Adrian Brown is the founder and CEO of Windfall Trust, a policy accelerator working to prepare governments and societies for the economic impacts of AI. Before founding Windfall, he spent two decades at the intersection of government and technology, including as the founding Executive Director of the Centre for Public Impact in London.
Additional Reading
"Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence" (Stanford Digital Economy Lab): https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine-six-facts-about-the-recen…
"AI as Normal Technology" (Knight First Amendment Institute): https://knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-as-normal-technology
"Forging a New AGI Social Contract" (Windfall Trust): https://windfalltrust.substack.com/p/forging-a-new-agi-social-contract
"Betting on Humans" by Anton Leicht and Dean Ball: https://writing.antonleicht.me/p/betting-on-humans
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1 min
The AI Policy Podcast Trailer
Show notes
Join CSIS’s Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center, on a deep dive into the world of AI policy. Every two weeks, tune in for insightful discussions covering AI regulation, economic impacts, national security, geopolitics, and more. CSIS is a bipartisan think tank in Washington, D.C.
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45 min
Three More AI Hacking Incidents, and a Push to 'Pace the Frontier'
Show notes
In this episode, we touch on Texas' new verification and audit requirement for data center developers seeking connection to the state's grid (1:11) before unpacking Anthropic's disclosure of three incidents in which its models hacked into another company during internal cyber evaluations (11:02). We discuss how these incidents—in addition to a previously disclosed incident at OpenAI—are driving calls for the U.S. government to help "pace the frontier" of AI development (21:53). We also explore the connection between AI safety and open model development, including Nvidia's open letter to U.S. policymakers, "Open Weights and American AI Leadership." (33:18).
Additional Reading:
Gov. Abbott's data center directive: https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/Thomas_Gleeson_Pablo_Vegas_Data_Centers_Directive_Letter_…
"China's AI Blitz Creates 'Death Zone' for Rival US Model Makers" (Bloomberg): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-04/china-s-ai-blitz-creates-death-zone-for-rival-us-model-makers
Anthropic's blog post "Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations": https://www.anthropic.com/news/investigating-incidents-cybersecurity-evals
Hugging Face's technical writeup "Anatomy of a Frontier Lab Agent Intrusion": https://huggingface.co/blog/agent-intrusion-technical-timeline
State Attorneys General letter to OpenAI: https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/media/cms/08_5392C9E17791C.pdf
House Committee on Homeland Security briefing request: https://x.com/HomelandDems/status/2084389406194929918
"How OpenAI Lost Control of an AI Model—and What Needs to Change" (TIME):https://time.com/article/2026/07/24/openai-hugging-face-attack/
"Pacing the Frontier" petition: https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/
Nvidia's open letter "Open Weights and American AI Leadership": https://images.nvidia.com/pdf/Open-Weights-and-American-AI-Leadership.pdf
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40 min
A Deep Dive Into IVOs with Fathom's Bri Treece
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Fathom co-founder and President Bri Treece for a conversation about third-party solutions to AI governance. Bri makes the case for Independent Verification Organizations, or IVOs, as the ideal AI governance model (5:32) and explains what historical analogies have to teach us about regulating AI (10:39). We also discuss the role IVOs can play in assuaging the public's concerns about AI (32:27).
Bri is a co-founder and the President of Fathom. She previously served as the Chief Operations Officer of the Center for AI Safety (CAIS), a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works to reduce societal risks from AI through research and field-building. She also founded the Center for AI Safety Action Fund, an advocacy organization that connects technical AI experts with policymakers to advance U.S. leadership in AI.
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45 min
Japan's Take on AI Sovereignty with Hiroki Habuka
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Hiroki Habuka for a conversation about Japan's approach to AI sovereignty. We discuss how the Japanese government defines sovereign AI (1:08) and how that definition shifted following the Trump Administration's move to block foreign access to Anthropic's Fable in June (7:58). We also cover Japan's AI Promotion Act (13:52) and the country's take on copyright and AI in the context of "Ghiblification" (24:51).
Hiroki is a senior policy fellow in Japan's Cabinet Office on AI and a research professor at Kyoto University. In 2020, the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Agile Governance recognized him as one of the world's 50 most influential people revolutionizing government. Hiroki is a former non-resident senior associate of the Wadhwani AI Center.
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48 min
OpenAI Models Hack Hugging Face, Kimi K3's "DeepSeek Moment," and New York's Data Center Moratorium
Show notes
In this episode, we discuss reports that OpenAI models escaped a sandboxed evaluation and breached Hugging Face's infrastructure (00:33). We then turn to Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, which has prompted talk of a second "DeepSeek moment," along with the distillation and export-control questions surrounding it (8:31). Finally, we cover New York Governor Kathy Hochul's executive order pausing data center permitting (26:57) and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis's proposed federal AI framework. (37:24).
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43 min
Canada's Approach to AI Sovereignty with Sean Mullin
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Sean Mullin for a conversation on Canadian AI sovereignty. We discuss implications of the Trump Administration restricting foreign nationals' access to Fable (1:33); highlights from Canada's June 2026 National AI Strategy (13:05); the country's approach to AI regulation, including its AI and Data Act and (27:38); and more.
Sean is a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto. He previously served as economic policy advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
You can read Sean's recent report on Canadian AI sovereignty strategy here.
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39 min
Illinois Mandates Third-Party Audits of Frontier Labs and Trump Lifts Export Controls on Anthropic's Fable
Show notes
In this episode, we discuss the AI Safety Measures Act, or SB 315, Illinois' new frontier AI bill that mandates third-party audits for frontier AI labs (:51). We also cover the Trump administration's decision to lift export controls on Anthropic's Fable and Mythos models (7:34), Anthropic's claim that Alibaba extracted capabilities from Claude in a large-scale distillation attack (17:46), and OpenAI's proposal for the government to take a 5% stake in the company (26:12).
Additional reading
IL mandates third-party audits of frontier labs
• AI Safety Measures Act (SB 315)
• Lutnick's June 30 letter
• Anthropic's blog post "Redeploying Fable 5"
• OpenAI's blog post "Previewing GPT-5.6 Sol"• "Anthropic Accuses Alibaba of 'Illicitly' Accessing AI Models" (Bloomberg)
• "OpenAI proposes handing Trump administration 5% stake" (Financial Times)
Commerce lifts export controls on AnthropicAnthropic accuses Alibaba of adversarial distillationOpenAI proposes government take 5% stake
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40 min
Advancing AI Readiness with SeedAI's Austin Carson and Joshua New
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Austin Carson and Joshua New of SeedAI, a nonprofit focused on building AI readiness in the United States. We discuss their backgrounds (00:56), SeedAI's mission and projects (10:28), opportunities and risks from using AI to advance scientific discovery (14:15), and more.
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