The AI Policy Podcast

4.8 (58)
Tech News
Updated Biweekly

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.

3d ago

Tracing the Evolution of Russia's Geran Drone with CSIS's Kateryna Bondar, Nicole Errera & Samuel Bendett

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
Oct 15

Trump Launches Super Intelligence Force + OpenAI Does More Math

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
Oct 8

Unpacking the Data Center Backlash with Jasmine Sun

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.
Oct 1

OpenAI Agents Hack Australian Government and Trump Rejects Global Governance at UNGA

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=202520260SB813 Text - SB-813 Independent verification organizations.
Sep 24

How AI Startups are Navigating Regulation with Maryam Mujica and Munjal Shah

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)
Sep 17

AI Safety Goes Mainstream

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
Sep 10

Decoding State-Level Regulation with Jason Elliott

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
Sep 3

METR Investigates OpenAI-Hugging Face Incident and California Legislature Advances IVO Framework

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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4.8

out of 5

58 Ratings

A Must-Listen for Anyone Interested in AI Policy and Innovation

08/28/2024

K5SCM

This series is informative and deeply insightful. The discussions blend technical depth and policy analysis, making complex topics accessible to both experts and those new to the field. I enjoy its focus on the intersection of AI, national security, and geopolitic areas that are often overlooked in mainstream AI discussions by covering nuances of AI regulation, innovation, and the global implications of AI advancements and a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape. Gregory curates a variety of perspectives through interviews with industry leaders, policymakers, and academics. This diversity of viewpoints enriches the conversation and gives a well-rounded view of the issues at hand. This is a great resource that will keep you informed and engaged in a highly dynamic and rapidly evolving technology policy domain. Highly recommended. In addition to the excellent content, the episodes are professionally produced and the audio quality is high. Easy and enjoyable listening.
Clear, concise, and enjoyable

01/27/2024

Arubin17

I learn a lot every episode
Incredible Insight

01/25/2024

HA Schwartz

This is the podcast for you if you want to understand and explore the intersection of AI and the policies that govern it.

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.