Explain to Shane

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is an ambitious attempt to constrain the immense power of Big Tech. But in an interconnected world, regulations made in Europe ripple out to the US and beyond. What do stricter rules in Europe mean for the US’s tech sector? How will new regulations impact American data protection? Will the DMA hurt innovation?Today, I am joined by James Lewis. James is the Senior Vice President, Pritzker Chair, and director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’s Strategic Technologies Program where he writes on international innovation and digitalization. In his previous role as a diplomat and member of the Senior Executive Service, he developed policies on cybersecurity, encryption, spectrum management, and global tech issues. Tune in to explore the implications of regulating rapidly changing technologies in our globalized world.

Unwanted calls and messages have become a major nuisance in the digital age. Regulators have scrambled to address rising complaints about these unwanted intrusions, but the persistence of fraudulent communications has undermined consumer faith in our telecommunications infrastructure. Why do these issues persist? And in today’s complex digital landscape, how are regulators and policymakers working to balance privacy, consumer trust, and fraud prevention?Today’s guest, Dave Stewart, works to address these challenges as the Senior Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer at Somos, a telephone number and identity service provider. Dave works to restore trust in the technology that underlies our daily calls and texts.

When Taylor Swift pulled her music from Spotify in 2014, she shone a spotlight on an issue that persists in the music industry today: artist must jump through major hoops to be compensated for their music that is played across multiple platforms. Nine years later, the economics are still challenging for artists to receive payment for their work. Artists earn some royalties from streaming services and receive no compensation when their music is played on traditional AM or FM radio due to old broadcast rules. These issues are further exacerbated by AI, which poses risks to artists licensed work and raises questions around their creativity being compensated.SoundExchange was created in 2003 to help resolve this issue by tracking listening data across platforms and facilitate payments to artists. Since its creation, the organization has adapted its payment systems for performance royalties to keep pace with the modern music ecosystem as it changes with new technology. On this episode, Michael Huppe, the President and CEO of SoundExchange, joins Shane Tews. Under his leadership, the organization has overseen billions of dollars in payments and has drastically increased royalty rates to artists.Tune in to break down the complex economics of the music industry and the impact of AI technologies on the landscape of music.

Cryptocurrency is transforming finance before our eyes, using technology to put control over money and transactions back into the hands of users. With the potential to enable faster, cheaper, and more transparent transfers, cryptocurrency infrastructure lays the foundation for new avenues of innovation - from self-executing smart contracts to greater privacy and financial digitization. However, for many outside the industry, cryptocurrency remains veiled in confusion. Today’s guest, Yuval Rooz, is deeply entrenched in the world of blockchain and digitization. He is the co-founder and CEO of Digital Asser, which uses blockchain technology to modernize the industry underlying today’s economy – enabling companies to balance efficiency with privacy. Before founding Digital Asset, he managed an electric algorithmic trading desk at the DRW Trading Group. Tune in to find out how bitcoin and AI are changing the finance industry.

Generative AI poses new challenges for political campaigning and our democracy as we head towards the 2024 presidential election. While this technology could streamline political messaging, there is greater fear that it could enable widespread manipulation and distortion of the democratic process. Heading into a contentious election, how can we assess and mitigate harms from AI-generated disinformation? How will the use of generative AI be different than prior “cheap fake” attempts? How should policymakers prepare for and respond to the use of AI in political advertising?On this episode, Shane is joined by Scott Brennen and Matt Perault, co-authors of “The new political ad machine: Policy frameworks for political ads in an age of AI.” They discuss how generative AI is transforming campaigning and address constituents’ pressing concerns around the technology including AI-manipulation risks, synthetic media transparency, and evolving regulations for political advertising.

Quantum computing has the potential to radically advance ourability to solve complex problems, transforming entire industries from drugdiscovery to cybersecurity. But, how does quantum computing really work? What problems can it helppeople and businesses solve? And how does it play into the US’s larger nationalstrategic goals?Our guest today is deeply entrenched in the development of quantumedge computing, which allows quantum computer deployment closer to where thedata is generated and processed. Quantum edge computing can lead to performanceimprovement, optimization results, and reduce latency in informationprocessing. Alan Baratz is the CEO of D-Wave. Alan has spearheadedbringing quantum optimization solutions into the consumer mainstream, applyingthem to real-world challenges like tsunami relief and carbon emissionreduction. With over 25 years of experience developing leading technologies, heprovides an insider view into the realities and possibilities of quantumcomputing.Tune in as Alan demystifies the complex world of quantumcomputing.

Paperwork and manual forms are still the norm for most industries today, but this outdated process is begging for a digital overhaul. Emerging software solutions can fully digitize documents and forms using advanced source code technology, providing pathways to ease information flows. Can this technology revolutionize the way businesses and governments tackle administrative tasks? How can the digital transformation of traditionally paper-based processes enhance consumers' experiences across industries?Our guest today has paved the way in easing the form process for consumers and businesses alike. Scott Wyatt is the founder of the recently patented Form Engine software, which speeds up the business and government world by digitizing their form and document processes. He has worked on devising technology-based solutions to outdated business models for over 20 years. Tune in as we dive deep on the technologies promising to modernize businesses and governments.

As we adopt technology at every level of our lives, these technological advancements can also open the door to more cyber risks. The increasing sophistication and frequency of cyberattacks are a threat to government agencies, private companies, and individual users alike. Given the interconnectedness of our digital economy, how can public users and companies take steps to protect themselves from cybercriminals? What steps can we take to guard our data from criminals? And can we identify vulnerabilities before they are exploited and defend our digital assets from attacks?Today’s guest has thought deeply about these questions and works to address emerging cyber threats head-on. Today’s guest, Lieutenant General Harry Raduege, is the President and CEO of the National Cybersecurity Center, a nonprofit that works to raise cyber awareness and integrate cybersecurity into every aspect of our interconnected lives. The Center helps serve small and medium businesses, partners with K-12 schools and higher education to create educational programs, and brings together people and organizations to learn about protecting systems and devices from cyber attacks and how to solve cyber-related problems. Before his work at the National Cybersecurity Center, Harry served in the Air Force for over 30 years where he was the Chief Information Officer of the Space Command, Chief Information Officer of NORAD, and Commander of the Joint Rask Force-Global Network Operations. Lieutenant Raduege joins the show with invaluable insights from working in cybersecurity.

Recent developments in transatlantic data sharing agreements serve as a baseline for the importance of cooperation between countries in the digital age. From the new Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework (TDPF) to the cybersecurity proposals before the United Nation, there are both areas of agreement and concern.To walk through some of the recent global protocols, Shane spoke with Sujit Raman about his expertise in data protection, national security, and negotiating legal agreements on behalf of the United States on many of these important policy priorities.Sujit is the Chief Legal Officer of TRM Labs, a leading blockchain and Web 3 analytics company, and a senior fellow in the Tech, Law and Security Program at American University. From 2017-2020 he served as US Associate Deputy Attorney General with responsibility for data protection, emerging technologies, and cyber-related criminal and national security investigations and prosecutions. In this capacity, he represented the United States in high-profile negotiations with the United Kingdom Australia, and the European Union, and co-led the U.S. delegation to the G6 Interior Minister’s conference in Munich in 2019.

The explosion of large language models (LLMs) into the public sphere in 2023 here in Washington has raised many questions on how much artificial intelligence (AI) should be under the direct scrutiny of the government. Should we proceed with as much caution as Europe? Will AI as we know it today become misaligned with our interests? AI should lead us towards the next economic boom, but will the involvement of the government hasten or inhibit that?To sift through some of these deeper policy questions, Shane spoke with Rob Reich about his work in philosophy, politics, and technology.Rob Reich is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. He is also the faculty co-director of Stanford's Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS), the faculty director of the McCoy Center for Ethics in Society, and the associate director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI).Rob discusses the merits (and limitations) of the precautionary principle and other points from his book, System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. Shane reiterates how stifling innovation can lead to worse outcomes than expected but that thoughtlessness on AI is a mistake just as well. Tune in as Shane and Rob examine the circuitry of America’s AI moment.