Washington AI Network with Tammy Haddad

Tammy Haddad interviews Arun Gupta, a venture capitalist, author, and professor, on how government can lead on AI by bridging the tech talent gap. They discuss aligning the innovation ecosystem with government's mission, opportunities in addressing climate change, the fears and potential of AI technology, the potential of the book 'Venture Meets Mission' as a movement, and shaping the future of AI in government and the private sector.

While ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) are making headlines, the federal government and the U.S. military have been leveraging AI for years to support the mission. Host Tammy Haddad interviews Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), who is one of the Pentagon’s top leaders in AI. In this episode, VADM Whitworth discusses how NGA uses AI “from the seabed to space” in national security, intelligence, warfare, competition with China, and the promise of advanced AI models that can analyze visual data. 

As technologists and policymakers convene in Washington at the Axios AI+ Summit, host Tammy Haddad interviews Ina Fried, Axios’ chief technology correspondent and co-author of the daily Axios AI+ newsletter. Fried takes us inside the summit, breaking down newsworthy comments from Eric Schmidt and DHS Secretary Alejando Mayorkas, and shares the “craziest hundred hours” of her reporting career following Sam Altman’s ouster from OpenAI and what she sees coming next.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and as the wars in Ukraine and Israel continue, Nobel Prize-winning economist Michael Spence has teamed up with former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Cambridge’s Queen’s College president Mohamed El-Erian to author Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World, their new book on how to break down the global “Permacrisis”' of sputtering growth, surging inflation, poor policy responses, an escalating climate emergency, worsening inequality, increasing nationalism and a decline in global co-operation. One of the most respected economists of our time, Spence walks us through the major economic trends stemming from world-disrupting events and how to tackle the toughest economic challenges ahead and how AI can drive necessary economic growth.

As investors around the world are racing to ride the next AI unicorn, leading Silicon Valley firm General Catalyst led the creation of the partnership between venture capital firms and Sec. Gina Raimondo and the Commerce Department to develop responsible AI guidelines for themselves and their portfolio companies. Paul Kwan and Teresa Carlson of General Catalyst walk us through their new investment thesis on building global resilience and their focus on responsible innovation and radical collaboration. In the second panel, we’ll hear from former NSA deputy director George Barnes of Red Cell Partners, Saildrone’s former Head of Defense, Cameron McCord and Anduril’s chief revenue officer Matt Steckman on how portfolio companies are using responsible AI to drive growth and innovation in defense, intelligence, and national security with comments by Sue Gordon, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

Washington AI Network digs into the latest on AI policy. Moderated by host Tammy Haddad, this episode features Paul Rennie OBE, Head of the Global Economy Group at the British Embassy, to discuss UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's first-ever AI Safety Summit on Nov. 1-2.

Host Tammy Haddad features an interview with Maya Wiley, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, one of 24 guests for the closed-door AI Insight Forum hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Wiley reveals what it was like to be one of only four advocates next to some of the world’s biggest tech CEOs from Musk to Zuck, and the questions senators raised. Wiley sounded alarm bells about the dangers of AI beginning with the models and the humans who create them. While senators differed vastly on what parts of AI to legislate, they told the CEOs their trust issues with private industry since tech blocked their legislation. She comments on Elon Musk grabbing “the headlines and sound bites” with his dire prediction of the end of civilization and ignoring the other ways AI is dangerous and impacting people’s lives.

Washington has come alive with the return of Congress and the final countdown to the arrival of tech CEO royalty from Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg to Elon Musk and Sundar Pichai to name a few. While it won’t be the cage match dangled between Musk and Zuck, many would like to be in the room when they come face-to-face with AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and American Federation of Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten. Cat Zakrzewski, tech policy reporter at the Washington Post, takes us behind the scenes of one of the most consequential policy gatherings of the year.

Miriam Vogel, the President and CEO of EqualAI and Chair of NAIAC, speaking in her personal capacity, highlights the critical crossroads between Congress, federal agencies and the tech industry on AI policy.  Government policymakers, particularly at the FTC and CFPB are already evaluating the effect of artificial intelligence, while agencies like the EEOC are investigating the potential impact on civil rights laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act. Recognizing they’ve missed opportunities in the past, and armed with a greater depth and understanding of AI, Congress is rising to the occasion on a bipartisan basis in terms of exploring regulation. 

Washington AI Network launched in July 2023 to gather Washington insiders for the latest on AI policy. Moderated by host Tammy Haddad, this episode features Victoria Espinel, a member of President Biden's National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee (NAIAC) and the president and CEO of BSA | The Software Alliance, and Kellee Wicker, director of the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program.