Who Controls What You See? AI, Media & Power

If the last decade was about platforms swallowing the press, the next one is about AI mediating everything…how we find news, what we trust, and who gets paid. 

On this episode of The Media Copilot, host Pete Pachal welcomes Justin Hendrix, CEO and editor of Tech Policy Press, a nonprofit dedicated to provoking debate at the intersection of technology and democracy. Hendrix’s path from The Economist to NYC Media Lab to founding a policy newsroom, shapes a rare perspective; he speaks policy, product, and press. Who sets the rules for AI and media—industry, government, or the public? Justin Hendrix argues the answer starts with competition policy and ends with better equilibria for democracy.

Topics we cover

🔹 Copyright and AI training: The battle between fair use and “giant theft,” why the U.S. path may be decided in court, and how commercialization complicates the ethics.

🔹 Power concentration: How antitrust and the Digital Markets Act could serve as tectonic levers to rebalance control between platforms and publishers.

 🔹 Quality versus “good enough”: AI hallucinations, the shift to AI as the first stop for answers, and what’s at stake when accuracy is the product.

 🔹 The “beat China” argument: Why urgency-driven narratives risk steamrolling communities, due process, and environmental review in the name of AI infrastructure.

 🔹 Search, remedies, and AI distribution: What Google’s antitrust outcomes could mean for AI-driven search and publisher leverage.

 🔹 Where media could go next: Licensing to AI agents, building owned agents, or a future where AI firms hire thousands of journalists themselves.

 🔹 Policy capacity and trust: Why the government’s tech knowledge gap matters and how Tech Policy Press is helping close it for lawmakers and regulators.

 🔹 Behavior shift: From NPR commutes to chatbot conversations, and the emerging risks of AI companionship and blurred lines between utility and dependency.

Guest: Justin Hendrix — CEO/Editor

Tech Policy Press :https://www.techpolicy.press/ 

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This episode of The Media CoPilot was produced by Pete Pachal, Executive Producer Michele Musso, and with video/audio editing by the Musso Media team. Produced by Musso Media. © 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved.

Music: Favorite by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0 License 

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