

POLITICO Tech
POLITICO
The POLITICO Tech podcast is your download on the disruption that technology is bringing to politics and policy. New episodes on Thursdays.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 9, 2024 • 16min
Tech and podcasting in Las Vegas
Greetings from Las Vegas! POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly travels to CES this week to explore how the annual gadget pageant reflects many of the big tech debates around privacy, safety and artificial intelligence. On the show today, he gets the download on what to expect from this year’s CES from Consumer Technology Association President and CEO Gary Shapiro and Digital Future Daily author Derek Robertson.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 8, 2024 • 19min
Key court cases in the year to come
There are multiple court cases and legal tests that could influence tech regulation for years. The action is everywhere — in state courts, being looked at by federal judges – and of course at the Supreme Court, which is slated to hear two cases with major implications for online speech. Steven Overly talks with Alexandra Reeve Givens, a First Amendment scholar and the president and chief executive officer of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a DC-based nonprofit that advocates for digital rights and freedom of expression. And has filed legal briefs in a number of this year’s big cases.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 5, 2024 • 16min
Rise of the AI psychbots
What if generative AI could let you chat with doppelgangers of brilliant people, in their words, at any time? POLITICO’s Mohar Chatterjee digs into unnerving experiments from Beijing to Venice Beach to create AI-generated replicas of living human psychologists. Her story shows a policy vacuum around digital consent - and possibly, a new way for experts to imagine influence and legacy in the age of AI.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 4, 2024 • 23min
Why millions may soon lose their affordable internet
There are 22 million households enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, each receiving a subsidy from the federal government for their monthly internet bill. But unless Congress acts, the program will soon run out of money. On POLITICO Tech, reporter John Hendel tells host Steven Overly why partisan politics could effectively kill the program, and what that would mean for closing the digital divide.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 3, 2024 • 16min
What to expect on tech from Washington in 2024
Little federal policymaking is likely to get done in an election year. But that doesn’t mean tech policy will be totally dead in Washington. On POLITICO Tech, Darrell West from the Brookings Institution explains what Congress could actually get done if lawmakers set aside their differences -- again, in an election year.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 2, 2024 • 21min
Forecast 2024: States will drive the tech agenda
States passed dozens of new tech laws last year on issues like AI, data privacy and kids’ online safety. Congress… talked about a lot of laws. The University of North Carolina’s Matt Perault expects that dynamic to continue in 2024. On POLITICO Tech, Perault shares predictions for state-level tech policy in the year to come with host Steven Overly.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 22, 2023 • 23min
Rebroadcast: IBM’s CEO on AI layoffs, lawsuits and what comes next
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna is both making artificial intelligence and grappling with its effects. In this rebroadcast, Krishna tells host Steven Overly why AI makes must be held accountable and why he’s not exactly worried about AI displacing a bunch of human workers. Politico Tech will be taking a break for the rest of the year and will be back in your feeds on January 2nd, 2024.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 21, 2023 • 27min
Rebroadcast: Sen. Mark Warner’s big AI idea is to think small
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has been through his share of tech battles on Capitol Hill — and seen lawmakers fail to implement legislation time and again. Warner outlined his ideas for where Congress should start with AI regulation — ideas that will be worth watching for in the new year.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 20, 2023 • 18min
150 ways House lawmakers want to take on China
House lawmakers have laid out a lengthy plan for confronting Beijing’s rising tech ambitions. The recommendations come from a bipartisan committee that has spending much of the past year examining fractures in the U.S.-China relationship, and weighing how the U.S. should prepare for a potential future conflict. On POLITICO Tech, the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), tells host Steven Overly what Congress should do next.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 19, 2023 • 21min
The case for a new tech cop
The U.S. Congress is still figuring out how to rein in Big Tech companies. Mark MacCarthy from the Brookings Institution and Georgetown University has a bold idea: create an entirely new tech regulator. It’s a tall ask considering Congress hasn’t passed major tech legislation to date, but on POLITICO Tech, MacCarthy tells host Steven Overly why he thinks it’s necessary.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices