POLITICO Tech

A series of recent headlines about politicians using AI-generated deepfakes of themselves got us thinking the gray areas in how artificial intelligence can be used on the campaign trail. In Indonesia, the front runner for president is a military general using an AI-generated cartoon as his campaign image. And in Pakistan, the former prime minister used an AI-generated video to declare victory — from prison. On the show today, Katie Harbath, who spent a decade on Facebook’s public policy team managing elections and is now the chief global affairs officer at Duco Experts, talks with Steven Overly about the rise in candidates deep faking themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

US Patent Office guidelines allow AI-made inventions to qualify for patents, highlighting the role of human creation. Discussions on attributing inventorship in an AI-driven world, patent eligibility for AI innovations, and legal intricacies in AI patenting. Exploring implications of AI on inventorship, inventive processes, and policy decisions within the patent system.

The Senate’s bipartisan border deal met a  rapid demise this week, But tucked inside the proposal was hundreds of millions of dollars for new technology along the U.S. southern border. Border security technology is increasingly sophisticated, and also increasingly contentious. On POLITICO Tech, Theresa Cardinal Brown from the Bipartisan Policy Center delves into the state of border technology and its partisan politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yoshua Bengio, one of the 'godfathers of AI', discusses his professional pivot towards preventing AI from destroying humanity. He emphasizes the need for a proactive strategy to tackle the risks associated with AI. Bengio advocates for collective efforts in making AI smarter and safer, stressing potential catastrophic outcomes if these challenges are not addressed. They also discuss the role of government in regulating AI systems and the dangers of reinforcement learning in their training.

More newsrooms are embracing generative artificial intelligence, even as it raises troubling questions about journalism’s future. On POLITICO Tech, the Knight Foundation’s Marc Lavallee tells host Steven Overly how bots are likely disrupt the news business and what that means for news consumers like you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore how partisan politics is hindering U.S. cybersecurity efforts, with far-right Republicans targeting federal agencies and key programs. Learn about the challenges faced by the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative in coordinating with the private sector and addressing cyber threats. Discover the historical conservative backlash against cybersecurity initiatives and the real-world consequences of delays in threat sharing.

There’s a new front in the fight against online child sexual abuse: AI-generated child porn. Emily Slifer is the policy director at Thorn, a nonprofit that develops technology to detect and remove such content. And she warns policymakers and tech companies must act now before the problem explodes. On POLITICO Tech, Slifer and host Steven Overly discuss who shoulders the burden, and the blame, for combating AI-generated child porn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, U.S. agriculture industries have advertised products through quasi-government programs. (Think “Got Milk?” and “Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner.”) Now, those marketing campaigns are getting a revamp for the social media era -- and that’s causing tension among American farmers and advocates. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Marcia Brown breaks down an atypical tech story about the controversial rise of the new food influencer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Margrethe Vestager, the EU's top tech regulator, discusses the EU's AI ambitions, her Silicon Valley crackdown, and her hopes for staying in her role. Topics include the EU AI Act, coordination between EU and US regulators, changing response of tech companies to EU regulations, and the impact of legislation on behavior change.

The CEOs of five major social media platforms are being hauled up to Capitol Hill today, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and X's Linda Yaccarino. They'll face a grilling from the Senate Judiciary Committee over their handling of child pornography and other harmful content on their platforms. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Rebecca Kern breaks down what to expect from the hearing — and which lawmakers will be looking to seize a moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices