This Does Not Compute

In the last episode of the podcast, host Jim Lewis talks to Arun Gupta, a venture capitalist, lecturer, entrepreneur and author of ‘Venture Meets Mission’. They discuss the landscape of venture capital and government collaboration, tech innovation and overcoming a risk-averse culture.

Byron Tau joins the podcast to discuss his new book “Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government is Creating a New Surveillance State,” which reveals the shadowy networks of ad-tech startups, data brokers, and government contractors that share or sell sensitive personal information. Tau and Caitlin Chin-Rothmann discuss how private companies and government agencies are analyzing patterns in movement history, financial transactions, and social media communications—and how these actions might implicate privacy and civil liberties in the United States.

In this episode Jim Lewis speaks to former FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly about the future of spectrum allocation, the outcomes of the World Radio Conference, and how the U.S. can still strike a balance between innovation and safeguarding national security.

In this episode, Joan O’Hara and Miranda Lutz of the XR Association join host Caitlin Chin-Rothmann to discuss how immersive technologies could transform a range of sectors, including healthcare, defense, education, and gaming. Joan and Miranda explain why the United States needs a national XR strategy to support research and development, promote digital literacy and awareness, and increase regulatory certainty around data privacy.

In this episode, Jim Lewis and Caitlin Chin-Rothmann talk to Mark MacCarthy about his new book “Regulating Digital Industries: How Public Oversight Can Encourage Competition, Protect Privacy, and Ensure Free Speech.” They discuss the need for a new regulatory body for digital platforms, the future business model of the internet, and why 2025 will be the year of tech regulation.

Caitlin Chin-Rothmann sits down with Dr. Courtney C. Radsch, director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute, to discuss the state of the news media in an evolving technological landscape. Caitlin and Courtney cover recent developments related to Canada’s Online News Act, the California Journalism Preservation Act, and the U.S. Journalism and Competition Preservation Act, as well as responses from Meta and Google. In addition, they consider how the rapid adoption of generative AI could potentially affect journalists and the sustainability of news.

In this episode Jim Lewis talks with Dr. Christian Weedbrook, founder and CEO of Xanadu, a leading Canadian quantum computing company. They discuss the current status and future direction of the quantum industry, the promise of photonics-based quantum computers, and the global competition for quantum-savvy talent.

In this episode, Caitlin Chin-Rothmann and Julia Brock join Megan Shahi, director of technology policy at the Center for American Progress, to discuss how social media companies can prepare for the 2024 global election cycle. They examine how a range of platform policies—including local trusted flagger programs, language support, civic engagement strategies, and generative AI guardrails—can affect how voters view and understand information online. For in-depth recommendations on these topics, check out Megan’s recent report “Protecting Democracy Online in 2024 and Beyond.” https://www.americanprogress.org/article/protecting-democracy-online-in-2024-and-beyond/

In this episode, Caitlin Chin sits with Jason Steinhauer, a public historian and bestselling author of "History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past." Caitlin and Jason discuss how policymakers and technology companies can incorporate lessons from history to address modern challenges like artificial intelligence, online disinformation narratives, and more.

In this episode, Jim Lewis talks to Shannon Corless, the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (OIA) at the Department of Treasury. They discuss the role of OIA in the broader federal government, economic and financial security, financial intelligence, and more.

In this episode, host Jim Lewis speaks with Richard Downing, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice. Richard and Jim discuss the current state of the CLOUD Act, the e-Evidence Act, access to digital evidence, and the future of data transfers between the U.S. and EU, among other topics.

In this episode, Caitlin Chin sits down with Anupam Chander, the Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and Technology at Georgetown University Law Center and an expert on the global regulation of new technologies. Caitlin and Anupam share early thoughts and predictions on Threads, a new conversational app designed by Meta. In addition, they discuss how recent developments with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, Digital Markets Act, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, and Federal Trade Commission could impact Meta's future in the European Union and United States.

In this episode, guest host Clete Johnson discusses the strategic security imperative for spectrum reallocation with former White House and NTIA leaders: senior vice president at BGR Robin Colwell, executive director of Open RAN Policy Coalition Diane Rinaldo, and partner at Wilkinson Baker Knauer LLP Evelyn Remaley. Robin, Diane, Evelyn, and Clete discuss the need for the United States to move urgently to allocate more mid-band spectrum for licensed commercial 5G use.  For additional resources on this topic, check out the following CSIS publications:  The National Security Benefits of Reallocating Federal Spectrum for Licensed 5G Use (Clete Johnson, CSIS): https://www.csis.org/analysis/national-security-benefits-reallocating-federal-spectrum-5g Spectrum Allocation for a Contest with China (James Lewis, CSIS): https://www.csis.org/analysis/spectrum-allocation-contest-china   The Strategic Imperative of U.S. Leadership in Next-Generation Networks (Clete Johnson, CSIS): https://www.csis.org/analysis/strategic-imperative-us-leadership-next-generation-networks

In this episode, Caitlin Chin speaks with Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, about how technological advancements have shifted the U.S. government's relationship with the private sector. Nate and Caitlin talk about how government agencies access cell phone location data and face images, as well as some related privacy, civil liberties, and free speech considerations. For additional resources on this topic, check out: Surveillance for Sale: The Underregulated Relationship between U.S. Data Brokers and Domestic and Foreign Government Agencies (CSIS): https://www.csis.org/analysis/surveillance-sale New Records Detail DHS Purchase and Use of Vast Quantities of Cell Phone Location Data (ACLU): https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/new-records-detail-dhs-purchase-and-use-of-vast-quantities-of-cell-phone-location-data Privacy & Technology (ACLU): https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology

In this episode, Caitlin Chin sits down with Emily Chi and Jenny Liu of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, an DC national nonprofit whose mission is to advance civil and human rights for Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all. Emily and Jenny discuss how false or harmful online narratives can affect the Asian American community in a variety of contexts, including elections and pandemics. In addition, they analyze various policy approaches to address the structural problem of race-based harmful or false online content, including cultural representation within technology companies, educational initiatives in schools, community-based outreach, and legislation.

In this episode, Caitlin Chin speaks with Di Cooke, a visiting fellow with the International Security Program at CSIS, about the rapid growth of synthetic media in many forms: videos, images, text, and audio. Caitlin and Di discuss the role of digital literacy trainings, platform accountability, and regulations to promote the potential benefits of AI while mitigating risks relating to disinformation, privacy, intellectual property, and ethics.

In this episode, Jim Lewis speaks with Kate Weber, Google’s Interim Global Lead for Emerging Tech Policy, and Vincent Vanhoucke, Distinguished Scientist and Director of Robotics at Google. They discuss Google’s PaLM-SayCan project, the implementation of robots into everyday life, incorporating common sense into language models and robots, and AI policy frameworks.

In this episode, CSIS guest host Caitlin Chin joins Evan Greer, director of Fight for The Future, to discuss recent proposals to ban TikTok. Caitlin and Evan talk about how a national TikTok ban could cut off a form of free speech and expression online and why some advocates are calling for federal antitrust and privacy legislation to improve the digital ecosystem more broadly. In addition, they discuss the role of advocacy to promote inclusive technology policy and what actions Congress and the Biden administration might take going forward.

In this episode, Jim Lewis speaks with Al Thompson, Vice President of U.S. Government Affairs at Intel. They speak about the implementation of the CHIPS Act, Intel’s semiconductor goals, regaining U.S. semiconductor leadership, the future of the chip shortage, and more.

In this episode, Jim Lewis talks with Chris Boyer, the Vice President of Global Security and Technology Policy at AT&T. They discuss U.S. progress on 5G implementation, recent legislative and executive developments in cybersecurity, Open RAN integration, and more. This episode was recorded in October 2022