The AI Policy Podcast
- Episodes
- 117
- Released
- weekly
- Latest episode
- Nov 12, 2026
About the podcast
Join CSIS's Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center, on a deep dive into the world of AI policy. Every Thursday, tune in for insightful discussions covering AI regulation, economic impacts, national security, geopolitics, and more. CSIS is a bipartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. The AI Policy Podcast is produced by Cera Baker, Nicole Errera, and Chris Gorin.
Episodes 117
What METR Found at Anthropic + Nvidia's Crisis of Trust
This week, co-hosts Aalok, Nicole, and Chris break down the revelation that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy tied to Megaspeed. They also unpack METR's recent report on …
Show notes
This week, co-hosts Aalok, Nicole, and Chris break down the revelation that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy tied to Megaspeed. They also unpack METR's recent report on accelerated AI R&D at Anthropic, before returning to last week's midterm elections and the future of U.S. AI policy.
NOTE: This episode was recorded Wednesday November 11, before reports of Jensen Huang’s second affair became public, or the Wall Street Journal report that Nvidia’s board is considering ousting him.
Timestamps:
01:02 Nvidia CEO faces spy scandal
05:59 Legal remote access vs. illegal chip diversion
08:56 What the U.S. government knew, and when they knew it
16:39 Why the alleged spy connection matters
18:05 Policy implications
25:15 METR report on the pace of AI progress at Anthropic
34:12 Why RSI is a safety concern
37:15 Reactions from authors of AI 2027
43:23 U.S. midterm election results
50:53 What to expect from the new Congress on AI policy
55:17 Other news: Anthropic IPO + new Fable, Mythos 5.2 models
Additional Reading:
“Nvidia Chief Seen as Target of Chinese Spy Plot” (The New York Times): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/29/us/politics/nvidia-china-jensen-huang-trump.html
Jensen Huang’s statement to Nvidia employees: https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/a-message-to-our-company
AI chip imports by country (Epoch AI): https://epoch.ai/data/ai-chip-imports?view=graph&tab=h100_equivalents
METR’s assessment of AI R&D acceleration at Anthropic: https://metr.org/blog/2026-11-05-anthropic-ai-rd-acceleration-assessment/
AI Futures Project’s timelines update in response to METR: https://blog.aifutures.org/p/q35-timelines-update-looks-like-the
Data center-related ballot measures, 2026 (Ballotpedia): https://ballotpedia.org/Data_center-related_ballot_measures,_2026America's First AI Election? Plus Sella Nevo on Securing Model Weights
This week, Aalok is joined by Chris Gorin, associate fellow at the Wadhwani AI Center and the newest co-host on the AI Policy Podcast, for a recap of Tuesday’s midterm elections. They discuss how AI influenced …
Show notes
This week, Aalok is joined by Chris Gorin, associate fellow at the Wadhwani AI Center and the newest co-host on the AI Policy Podcast, for a recap of Tuesday’s midterm elections. They discuss how AI influenced voters at the polls and the potential for AI regulation in the new Congress. Aalok then sits down with Sella Nevo to discuss threats to frontier AI labs, securing model weights, and his work on SL5.
Guests:
Sella Nevo, Director, RAND Center on AI, Security, and Technology
0:00 Intro
1:49 Chris intro
4:06 Midterms roundup
9:46 How data center measures could impact AI development
11:55 Exit polls and the potential for new AI regulation in Congress
18:23 Google restricts search for schools that disable AI
22:37 Sella intro
25:19 Why securing model weights matters
31:44 Threat vectors and real-world attacks
36:19 How frontier lab security has evolved over time
38:49 AI for cyber defense vs. offense
45:22 Security Levels 1–5 (SL1–SL5) explained
51:46 Where frontier labs stand today and obstacles to SL5
58:50 AI agents, containment breaches and sovereign AI
1:03:41 Security risks of embedded evaluators
1:06:26 Sella's predictions and biggest worries
1:10:30 Policy prescriptions
Additional Reading:
NBC News 2026 Exit Polls: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/exit-polls
Saudi National Arrested For Installing Surreptitious Audio Recording Device At OpenAI In San Francisco (U.S. Attorney’s Office): https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/saudi-national-arrested-installing-surreptitious-audio-recording-device-openai-san
How an AI start-up founded by ex-DOGE staffers broke into Anthropic (The Washington Post): https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/10/26/researchers-cybersecurity-start-up-cathedral-got-inside-anthropic/
“Securing AI Model Weights” by Sella Nevo, Dan Lahav, Ajay Karpur, Yogev Bar-On, Henry Alexander Bradley, Jeff Alstott (RAND): https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2849-1.html
AI Cyber Incidents Pile Up + Anthropic’s Draft Safety Bill
Aalok and Nicole discuss the latest AI cyber incidents, including major ARTEX-driven hacks and Qwen3.8 attempting to send local system data to a server in China. On the bright side, security experts used AI to …
Show notes
Aalok and Nicole discuss the latest AI cyber incidents, including major ARTEX-driven hacks and Qwen3.8 attempting to send local system data to a server in China. On the bright side, security experts used AI to find and patch a vulnerability in PHP impacting 70% of the internet. Plus, what's interesting in the Kimi K3.1 Pro model card and why Anthropic is getting backlash for its draft safety bill.
Timestamps:
1:12 ARTEX-enabled hacks
9:50 Qwen3.8 attempts to send data to China server
17:56 Calif finds vulnerability in PHP with GPT-5.6 Sol
25:32 Kimi K3.1 Pro model launch
31:06 Anthropic pitches draft safety bill
Additional Reading:
Microsoft blog post on ARTEX-enabled attack: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2026/10/21/storm-0940-uses-artex-agentic-ai-connectwise-supply-chain-compromise/
Cohere report on misaligned Qwen3.8: https://cohere.com/blog/concerning-behaviour-popular-open-weight-ai-model
Calif report on PHP2Shell: https://calif.io/php2shell/
Kimi K3.1 Pro model card: https://www.kimi.ai/blog/kimi-k3-1-pro
Anthropic's statement on improved distillation defenses: https://www.anthropic.com/news/distillation-defenses
Anthropic’s draft AI safety bill: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lJLyXL_2T6yc4rlKPqi6niMpfGucZ-oR/view
Anthropic’s IPO prospectus: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2130357/000162828026067168/anthropicpbc-sx1.htm
Tracing the Evolution of Russia's Geran Drone with CSIS's Kateryna Bondar, Nicole Errera & Samuel Bendett
This episode cross-posts the event "From Shahed to Geran: How Russia Continues to Reinvent the One-Way Attack Drone" hosted by the Wadhwani AI Center at CSIS on September 29. Check out the full event recording …
Show notes
This episode cross-posts the event "From Shahed to Geran: How Russia Continues to Reinvent the One-Way Attack Drone" hosted by the Wadhwani AI Center at CSIS on September 29.
Check out the full event recording: https://www.csis.org/events/shahed-geran-how-russia-continues-reinvent-one-way-attack-drone
Guests:
Kateryna Bondar, Senior Fellow, Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Nicole Errera, Research Assistant, Wadhwani AI Center at CSIS
Samuel Bendett, Senior Associate (Non-resident), Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at CSIS
Additional Reading:
"From Shahed to Geran: How Russia Continues to Reinvent the One-Way Attack Drone" by Kateryna Bondar and Nicole Errera: https://www.csis.org/analysis/shahed-geran-how-russia-continues-reinvent-one-way-attack-drone
Trump Launches Super Intelligence Force + OpenAI Does More Math
In this episode, Aalok and Nicole unpack OpenAI's latest math proof drop before diving into the White House's first policy actions in the "SI" era. They cover the (voluntary?) Accord on Super Intelligence …
Show notes
In this episode, Aalok and Nicole unpack OpenAI's latest math proof drop before diving into the White House's first policy actions in the "SI" era. They cover the (voluntary?) Accord on Super Intelligence signed by all the major industry players and discuss what listeners can expect from Trump's new Super Intelligence Force.
*This episode was recorded at 2:00 pm ET on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.*
Timestamps:
00:39 Model release updates + OpenAI/Anthropic price war
7:48 New math results from OpenAI
21:42 Tech leaders sign Accord on Super Intelligence
34:02 Trump's new Super Intelligence task force
43:40 Nonprofit sues OpenAI over Hugging Face hack
Additional Reading:
"Introducing GPT-6 Sol and Luna" by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-6-sol-and-luna/
"Introducing Claude Opus 5.5" by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-opus-5-5
"GPT-6.1 Sol" by OpenAI: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-opus-5-5
"Claude Haiku 5.5" by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-haiku-5-5
"Introducing Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full: Frontier Models for Agents" by Meta: https://about.fb.com/news/2026/10/introducing-muse-wonder-models/
"Mark Zuckerberg says Meta has reached AI 'frontier'" by Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/fca23e77-be57-4d7e-ae61-74ff299e25cb
"Gemini 4 Argon: Built to solve your hardest problems" by Google: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/introducing-gemini-4-argon/
OpenAI math results GitHub repository: https://github.com/openai/math/tree/main
"100+ reactions to 100+ solutions" on Proofs and Prompts: https://proofsandprompts.com/2026/10/08/100-reactions-to-100-solutions/
White House Executive Order on Super Intelligence: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/inaugurating-the-era-of-super-intelligence/
White House Accord on Super Intelligence: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-accord-super-intelligence
Letter by three fired OpenAI employees: https://mikitabalesni.com/letter/letter.pdf
Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology vs. OpenAI: https://lasst.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/LASST-v.-OpenAI-Complaint-09.29.2026-AS-FILED.pdf
California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act: https://www.calpers.ca.gov/documents/ca-penal-code-502/download
California Assembly Bill No. 316: https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab316
"AI models may be capable of self-replicating without access to a datacenter" by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/research/self-replicating-ai
Unpacking the Data Center Backlash with Jasmine Sun
AI data centers have become a flashpoint for policymakers across the country in the leadup to midterm elections, with polls showing that seven in 10 Americans oppose new data center construction in their local …
Show notes
AI data centers have become a flashpoint for policymakers across the country in the leadup to midterm elections, with polls showing that seven in 10 Americans oppose new data center construction in their local area. In this episode of the AI Policy Podcast, Wadhwani AI Center director Aalok Mehta sits down with writer Jasmine Sun for a conversation about the AI data center backlash. They unpack what's driving the opposition movement, where Washington and Silicon Valley diverge from the rest of the country, and how the AI infrastructure buildout might influence voters in November.
This event is made possible by general funding to CSIS and the CSIS Wadhwani AI Center.
OpenAI Agents Hack Australian Government and Trump Rejects Global Governance at UNGA
This week, Aalok and Nicole discuss new reports of rogue AI agents on the open internet – including the first known case of an agent hacking a government system – and the lackluster outcome of last week's …
Show notes
This week, Aalok and Nicole discuss new reports of rogue AI agents on the open internet – including the first known case of an agent hacking a government system – and the lackluster outcome of last week's highly anticipated U.S.-China summit. Plus, the Trump Administration and frontier lab CEOs present contrasting visions for AI governance at the UN General Assembly, and states continue to pass new regulation on both AI models and the data center buildout.
*Disclaimer: this episode was recorded prior to a complaint filed against OpenAI Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco's Superior Court by Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology, citing California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act and Unfair Competition Law.
Timestamps:
OpenAI agents hack Australian government site (1:02)
Axios reports frontier labs facing "tens of thousands" of AI cyber incidents (7:48)
Last week's U.S.-China summit (17:13)
Remarks by heads of state at UNGA (21:26)
Trump to appoint AI czar, establish AI Force (30:03)
Updated court ruling on Anthropic vs. DOD (35:27)
New data center directives in Texas, Virginia (38:30)
California regulation updates (44:52)
Additional Reading:
“Scoop: Top AI companies probing tens of thousands of security incidents” by Axios: https://www.axios.com/2026/09/26/openai-anthropic-thousands-ai-security-incidents
“Sam Altman’s remarks at the United Nations Security Council” by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/sam-altman-un-security-council-remarks/
Florida Office of the Attorney General vs. OpenAI: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/sites/default/files/openai-filed-stamped-complaint.pdf
“OpenAI Scraps Release of New AI Model Over Safety Concerns” by The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-chatgpt-model-release-cancel-safety-5a2f9f42
White House Executive Order "Streamlining Access To Government Services Through America.gov" https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/streamlining-access-to-government-services-through-america-gov/
Federal court ruling on Anthropic vs. DOD: https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/docs/2026/09/26-1049-2194984.pdf
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's data center directive: https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/TCEQ_Data_Center.pdf
Virginia Executive Order: https://www.governor.virginia.gov/media/governorvirginiagov/governor-of-virginia/pdf/eo/eo-22-estab…
California Executive Order: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/FINAL-N-9-26-AI-EO-9.18.26-SIGNED.pdf
CA Senate Bill No. 813: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB813 Text - SB-813 Independent verification organizations.
How AI Startups are Navigating Regulation with Maryam Mujica and Munjal Shah
This week, Aalok is joined by Maryam Mujica, president of the General Catalyst Institute, and Munjal Shah, co-founder and CEO of generative AI startup Hippocratic AI, for a discussion on how generative AI …
Show notes
This week, Aalok is joined by Maryam Mujica, president of the General Catalyst Institute, and Munjal Shah, co-founder and CEO of generative AI startup Hippocratic AI, for a discussion on how generative AI startups are thinking about AI regulation.
Guests:
Maryam Mujica, President, General Catalyst Institute
Munjal Shah, co-founder and CEO, Hippocratic AI
Timestamps:
About the General Catalyst Institute (1:52)
About Hippocratic AI (6:56)
Healthcare applications of AI (13:43)
Impact of regulation on AI startups (18:32)
Munjal's interactions with federal regulators (24:07)
Issue of compute shortage (31:21)
Impact of AI on labor (48:23)
AI Safety Goes Mainstream
An Anthropic researcher's viral resignation post last week set off a maelstrom of fear around extreme AI risks. Aalok and Nicole discuss the resulting vibe shift and how frontier labs are responding. They also …
Show notes
An Anthropic researcher's viral resignation post last week set off a maelstrom of fear around extreme AI risks. Aalok and Nicole discuss the resulting vibe shift and how frontier labs are responding. They also unpack OpenAI solving one of the most difficult open problems in mathematics and reports of more rogue agent activity on the open internet.
Timestamps:
OpenAI solves Millenium Problem (1:04)
Rogue OpenAI agents take over a German wiki (12:14)
Anthropic researcher's resignation post goes viral (19:34)
Dario Amodei commits to embedding third-party evaluators inside Anthropic (28:12)
Where the U.S. government can step in (35:12)
Additional Reading:
"On the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize Problem" by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/navier-stokes-solution/
"An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry" by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/model-disproves-discrete-geometry-conjecture/
Statement on Navier-Stokes by NYU Professor Tristan Buckmaster: https://cims.nyu.edu/~tristanb/statement.pdf
"An alignment assessment of recent cybersecurity incidents" by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/research/alignment-assessment-cybersecurity-incidents
"OpenAI's rogue agents used at least 10 more sites for unauthorized comms, researchers say" by Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/openais-rogue-agents-used-least-10-more-sites-unauthorized-comms-rese…
"OpenAI agents carried out an undisclosed cyber-attack on RubyGems" by Spencer Kitts, Thomas Larsen, and Sydney Von Arx: https://www.rubyhack.ai
"Discovery of a new OpenAI agent message board" by Sydney Von Arx, Cormac Slade Byrd, Spencer Kitts, and Thomas Larsen: https://collusion.wiki
"Anthropic Researcher Quits Over 'Out-of-Control' AI Fears" by The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-researcher-quits-over-out-of-control-ai-fears-707b7628
"The AI policy window is open. We need to act." by OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane: https://openai.com/index/ai-policy-window/
"We Must Pace the Frontier" by Dario Amodei: https://darioamodei.com/post/we-must-pace-the-frontier
Decoding State-Level Regulation with Jason Elliott
This week, Aalok is joined by Jason Elliott, the former Deputy Chief of Staff to California Governor Gavin Newsom, for a conversation about regulating AI at the state level. Guests: Jason Elliott, President …
Show notes
This week, Aalok is joined by Jason Elliott, the former Deputy Chief of Staff to California Governor Gavin Newsom, for a conversation about regulating AI at the state level.
Guests:
Jason Elliott, President, Versus Solutions
Timestamps:
Jason's bio (0:16)
Legislating at the state vs. federal level (2:21)
Revisiting SB-1047 (5:58)
SB-53 (13:43)
States as "laboratories of democracy" (19:57)
Influence of SB-53 on subsequent state bills (24:14)
Federal preemption debate (27:59)
Updating existing regulations (40:37)
Additional Reading:
CA Senate Bill No. 1047: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1047
CA Senate Bill No. 53: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB53
"The California Report on Frontier AI Policy" by the Joint California Policy Working Group on AI Frontier Models: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/June-17-2025-–-The-California-Report-on-Frontier-AI-Policy.pdf
"Toward a Federal Framework: Lessons from State and International Frontier AI Regulation" by Laura Caroli and Aalok Mehta: https://www.csis.org/analysis/toward-federal-framework-lessons-state-and-international-frontier-ai-regulation
CA Senate Bill No. 813: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB813
"Independent Oversight Marketplace for AI" by Fathom: https://ivo.fathom.or
METR Investigates OpenAI-Hugging Face Incident and California Legislature Advances IVO Framework
This week, we unpack findings from METR's six-day investigation of the OpenAI-Hugging Face cyber incident. We also discuss an IVO bill passed by the California Legislature, Bill Gates' take on the current …
Show notes
This week, we unpack findings from METR's six-day investigation of the OpenAI-Hugging Face cyber incident. We also discuss an IVO bill passed by the California Legislature, Bill Gates' take on the current moment in AI, and a federal judge striking down Anthropic's supply chain risk designation.
Additional Reading: SB-813 bill text: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB813
"Toward a Federal Framework: Lessons from State and International Frontier AI Regulation" by Laura Caroli and Aalok Mehta: https://www.csis.org/analysis/toward-federal-framework-lessons-state-and-international-frontier-ai-regulation
"The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical." by Bill Gates: https://www.gatesnotes.com/a-turbulent-ai-era-and-critical-choices-to-make
"Brief independent investigation of agents' behavior, reasoning and collaboration in the OpenAI/Hugging Face hacking incident" by METR: https://metr.org/blog/2026-08-26-openai-hugging-face-incident-investigation/
"The Hugging Face incident and the road ahead" by OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-incident-and-the-road-ahead/
"A call for collective action on cyber defense" open letter by OpenAI: https://openai.com/collective-cyberdefense/
Responding to AI Agent Containment Failures with CSET's Helen Toner, LawAI's Mackenzie Arnold & CSIS's Matt Pearl
This episode cross-posts a panel from the event "AI Agent Containment Failures: Technical Realities and Policy Responses," co-hosted by the Wadhwani AI Center and the Institute for Law and AI on August 24 …
Show notes
This episode cross-posts a panel from the event "AI Agent Containment Failures: Technical Realities and Policy Responses," co-hosted by the Wadhwani AI Center and the Institute for Law and AI on August 24.
Check out the full event recording: https://www.csis.org/events/ai-agent-containment-failures-technical-realities-and-policy-responses
Guests:
Helen Toner, Executive Director, Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown
Mackenzie Arnold, Director of U.S. Policy, Institute for Law and AI (LawAI)
Matt Pearl, Director, Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Timestamps:
What we've learned since the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident (1:15)
Incentives for safety measures at frontier labs (16:24)
Technical talent within government (22:18)
Ensuring compliance to incident reporting requirements (34:58)
Liability for crimes committed by AI agents (38:00)
Liability safe harbors (51:55)
Additional Reading:
"When Reporting an AI Security Incident Is Not Mandatory" by Mackenzie Arnold and Stephan Llerena for Lawfare: https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/when-reporting-an-ai-security-incident-is-not-mandatory
"Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations" blog by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/news/investigating-incidents-cybersecurity-evals
"Incident Report: unsanctioned agent behavior during cyber testing" by U.K. AISI: https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/incident-report-unsanctioned-agent-behaviour-during-cyber-testing
"Pacing model development in an era of cyber-critical capabilities" announcement from OpenAI: https://openai.com/index/pacing-model-development-cyber-capabilities/
"Pacing the Frontier" petition: https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/
CSIS Commission on U.S. Cyber Force Generation: https://www.csis.org/analysis/csis-commission-us-cyber-force-generation
Limitations of the current incident reporting regime (7:46)Role of the U.S. government in helping defenders (11:52)What the executive branch can do now (25:29)Concrete policy recommendations (29:31)U.S.-China competition (40:50)Preventing abuse of an incident reporting regime (44:25)De facto regulatory role played by frontier lab employees (49:24)Role of AI-generated code in cyberdefense (54:45)Concluding remarks (55:53)"Out of Bounds: What the U.S. Government Should Do in Response to AI Agent Containment Failures" by Aalok Mehta: https://www.csis.org/analysis/out-bounds-what-us-government-should-do-response-ai-agent-containment-failures"The 'Breaking' News: The OpenAI–Hugging Face Incident" presentation at Black Hat: https://youtu.be/87DyyMV0kCY?si=GWh9MB1plhO-xjYT
OpenAI Pauses RL Training and Anthropic Adds Watermarks to AI-Generated Text
This week, we cover updates from the ongoing cyber saga, including OpenAI's two-week pause on RL training and the cyber capabilities of Z.ai's latest model GLM-5.3. We also unpack Anthropic's move to add …
Show notes
This week, we cover updates from the ongoing cyber saga, including OpenAI's two-week pause on RL training and the cyber capabilities of Z.ai's latest model GLM-5.3. We also unpack Anthropic's move to add watermarks to text generated by Claude in compliance with the EU AI Act.
Timestamps:
Mark Zuckerberg's essay on AI (00:20)
OpenAI pauses RL training (5:56)
Cyber capabilities of GLM-5.3 (15:29)
EU AI Act refresher (24:29)
How Anthropic's text watermark works (31:21)
What's driving the backlash against Anthropic (40:59)
Additional Reading:
Zuckerberg's essay "The Future is for Everyone": https://www.meta.com/thefutureisforeveryone/
OpenAI announces two-week pause on RL training: https://openai.com/index/pacing-model-development-cyber-capabilities/
Letter from Sanders to tech CEOs: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/AI-Pause-Letter-FINAL.pdf
Letter from House reps to Mike Johnson: https://casar.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/casar.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/final-letter-to-speaker-johnson-requesting-ai-hearings-1.pdf
Z.ai blog post "GLM-5.3: Frontier Coding with Emergent Cyber Capabilities": https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.3
Z.ai article "Preparing GLM-5.3 for Open Release: A Responsible Path to Cyber Defense": https://x.com/Zai_org/status/2088280509474320693
"The EU's AI Transparency Code of Practice, Explained" (Tech Policy Press): https://www.techpolicy.press/the-eus-ai-transparency-code-of-practice-explained/
Anthropic blog post "How Claude's text watermark works": https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-text-watermark
"Toward a Federal Framework: Lessons from State and International Frontier AI Regulation" (CSIS): https://www.csis.org/analysis/toward-federal-framework-lessons-state-and-international-frontier-ai-regulation
Check out our upcoming event, "AI Agent Containment Failures: Technical Realities and Policy Responses": https://www.csis.org/events/ai-agent-containment-failures-technical-realities-and-policy-responses
Planning for the AI-Powered Economy with Windfall's Adrian Brown
In this episode, we're joined by Adrian Brown, founder and CEO of Windfall Trust, for a conversation about the economic impacts of AI. Why the economic focus (00:58) Capturing AI's impact in macro statistics …
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Adrian Brown, founder and CEO of Windfall Trust, for a conversation about the economic impacts of AI.
Why the economic focus (00:58)
Capturing AI's impact in macro statistics (5:03)
Planning under uncertainty (9:44)
What's driving the AI backlash (17:27)
A new social contract for the AI era (20:31)
Are governments taking AI seriously enough? (31:21)
Why AI is likely to create major wealth concentration (39:10)
Adrian Brown is the founder and CEO of Windfall Trust, a policy accelerator working to prepare governments and societies for the economic impacts of AI. Before founding Windfall, he spent two decades at the intersection of government and technology, including as the founding Executive Director of the Centre for Public Impact in London.
Additional Reading
"Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence" (Stanford Digital Economy Lab): https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/publication/canaries-in-the-coal-mine-six-facts-about-the-recen…
"AI as Normal Technology" (Knight First Amendment Institute): https://knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-as-normal-technology
"Forging a New AGI Social Contract" (Windfall Trust): https://windfalltrust.substack.com/p/forging-a-new-agi-social-contract
"Betting on Humans" by Anton Leicht and Dean Ball: https://writing.antonleicht.me/p/betting-on-humans
The AI Policy Podcast Trailer
Join CSIS’s Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center, on a deep dive into the world of AI policy. Every two weeks, tune in for insightful discussions covering AI regulation, economic impacts, national …
Show notes
Join CSIS’s Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center, on a deep dive into the world of AI policy. Every two weeks, tune in for insightful discussions covering AI regulation, economic impacts, national security, geopolitics, and more. CSIS is a bipartisan think tank in Washington, D.C.
Three More AI Hacking Incidents, and a Push to 'Pace the Frontier'
In this episode, we touch on Texas' new verification and audit requirement for data center developers seeking connection to the state's grid (1:11) before unpacking Anthropic's disclosure of three incidents in …
Show notes
In this episode, we touch on Texas' new verification and audit requirement for data center developers seeking connection to the state's grid (1:11) before unpacking Anthropic's disclosure of three incidents in which its models hacked into another company during internal cyber evaluations (11:02). We discuss how these incidents—in addition to a previously disclosed incident at OpenAI—are driving calls for the U.S. government to help "pace the frontier" of AI development (21:53). We also explore the connection between AI safety and open model development, including Nvidia's open letter to U.S. policymakers, "Open Weights and American AI Leadership." (33:18).
Additional Reading:
Gov. Abbott's data center directive: https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/Thomas_Gleeson_Pablo_Vegas_Data_Centers_Directive_Letter_…
"China's AI Blitz Creates 'Death Zone' for Rival US Model Makers" (Bloomberg): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-04/china-s-ai-blitz-creates-death-zone-for-rival-us-model-makers
Anthropic's blog post "Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations": https://www.anthropic.com/news/investigating-incidents-cybersecurity-evals
Hugging Face's technical writeup "Anatomy of a Frontier Lab Agent Intrusion": https://huggingface.co/blog/agent-intrusion-technical-timeline
State Attorneys General letter to OpenAI: https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/media/cms/08_5392C9E17791C.pdf
House Committee on Homeland Security briefing request: https://x.com/HomelandDems/status/2084389406194929918
"How OpenAI Lost Control of an AI Model—and What Needs to Change" (TIME): https://time.com/article/2026/07/24/openai-hugging-face-attack/
"Pacing the Frontier" petition: https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/
Nvidia's open letter "Open Weights and American AI Leadership": https://images.nvidia.com/pdf/Open-Weights-and-American-AI-Leadership.pdf
A Deep Dive Into IVOs with Fathom's Bri Treece
In this episode, we're joined by Fathom co-founder and President Bri Treece for a conversation about third-party solutions to AI governance. Bri makes the case for Independent Verification Organizations, or …
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Fathom co-founder and President Bri Treece for a conversation about third-party solutions to AI governance. Bri makes the case for Independent Verification Organizations, or IVOs, as the ideal AI governance model (5:32) and explains what historical analogies have to teach us about regulating AI (10:39). We also discuss the role IVOs can play in assuaging the public's concerns about AI (32:27).
Bri is a co-founder and the President of Fathom. She previously served as the Chief Operations Officer of the Center for AI Safety (CAIS), a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works to reduce societal risks from AI through research and field-building. She also founded the Center for AI Safety Action Fund, an advocacy organization that connects technical AI experts with policymakers to advance U.S. leadership in AI.
Japan's Take on AI Sovereignty with Hiroki Habuka
In this episode, we're joined by Hiroki Habuka for a conversation about Japan's approach to AI sovereignty. We discuss how the Japanese government defines sovereign AI (1:08) and how that definition shifted …
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Hiroki Habuka for a conversation about Japan's approach to AI sovereignty. We discuss how the Japanese government defines sovereign AI (1:08) and how that definition shifted following the Trump Administration's move to block foreign access to Anthropic's Fable in June (7:58). We also cover Japan's AI Promotion Act (13:52) and the country's take on copyright and AI in the context of "Ghiblification" (24:51).
Hiroki is a senior policy fellow in Japan's Cabinet Office on AI and a research professor at Kyoto University. In 2020, the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Agile Governance recognized him as one of the world's 50 most influential people revolutionizing government. Hiroki is a former non-resident senior associate of the Wadhwani AI Center.
OpenAI Models Hack Hugging Face, Kimi K3's "DeepSeek Moment," and New York's Data Center Moratorium
In this episode, we discuss reports that OpenAI models escaped a sandboxed evaluation and breached Hugging Face's infrastructure (00:33). We then turn to Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, which has prompted talk of a …
Show notes
In this episode, we discuss reports that OpenAI models escaped a sandboxed evaluation and breached Hugging Face's infrastructure (00:33). We then turn to Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, which has prompted talk of a second "DeepSeek moment," along with the distillation and export-control questions surrounding it (8:31). Finally, we cover New York Governor Kathy Hochul's executive order pausing data center permitting (26:57) and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis's proposed federal AI framework. (37:24).
Canada's Approach to AI Sovereignty with Sean Mullin
In this episode, we're joined by Sean Mullin for a conversation on Canadian AI sovereignty. We discuss implications of the Trump Administration restricting foreign nationals' access to Fable (1:33); highlights …
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Sean Mullin for a conversation on Canadian AI sovereignty. We discuss implications of the Trump Administration restricting foreign nationals' access to Fable (1:33); highlights from Canada's June 2026 National AI Strategy (13:05); the country's approach to AI regulation, including its AI and Data Act and (27:38); and more.
Sean is a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto. He previously served as economic policy advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
You can read Sean's recent report on Canadian AI sovereignty strategy here.
Illinois Mandates Third-Party Audits of Frontier Labs and Trump Lifts Export Controls on Anthropic's Fable
In this episode, we discuss the AI Safety Measures Act, or SB 315, Illinois' new frontier AI bill that mandates third-party audits for frontier AI labs (:51). We also cover the Trump administration's decision …
Show notes
In this episode, we discuss the AI Safety Measures Act, or SB 315, Illinois' new frontier AI bill that mandates third-party audits for frontier AI labs (:51). We also cover the Trump administration's decision to lift export controls on Anthropic's Fable and Mythos models (7:34), Anthropic's claim that Alibaba extracted capabilities from Claude in a large-scale distillation attack (17:46), and OpenAI's proposal for the government to take a 5% stake in the company (26:12).
Additional reading
IL mandates third-party audits of frontier labs
- Lutnick's June 30 letter
- Anthropic's blog post "Redeploying Fable 5"
- OpenAI's blog post "Previewing GPT-5.6 Sol"
- "OpenAI proposes handing Trump administration 5% stake" (Financial Times)
Commerce lifts export controls on AnthropicAnthropic accuses Alibaba of adversarial distillationOpenAI proposes government take 5% stake
Advancing AI Readiness with SeedAI's Austin Carson and Joshua New
In this episode, we're joined by Austin Carson and Joshua New of SeedAI, a nonprofit focused on building AI readiness in the United States. We discuss their backgrounds (00:56), SeedAI's mission and projects …
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Austin Carson and Joshua New of SeedAI, a nonprofit focused on building AI readiness in the United States. We discuss their backgrounds (00:56), SeedAI's mission and projects (10:28), opportunities and risks from using AI to advance scientific discovery (14:15), and more.
White House Imposes Export Controls on Anthropic's Fable and Tech CEOs Join Heads of State at G7 Summit
In this episode, we're joined by Kate Koren, deputy director of the Economics Program and Scholl Chair at CSIS, to discuss the Trump administration's recent move to impose export controls on Anthropic's Fable 5 …
Show notes
In this episode, we're joined by Kate Koren, deputy director of the Economics Program and Scholl Chair at CSIS, to discuss the Trump administration's recent move to impose export controls on Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models. We walk through the events leading up to the administration's decision (:47) and explore what authorities the Commerce Department has to restrict access to AI models (6:54). We also unpack the implications of AI industry executives joining world leaders at the G7 Summit in France last week (21:36).
Trump Signs Mythos-Inspired Executive Order After Delay and Reps. Obernolte and Trahan Release Draft Federal Framework for AI
In this episode, we unpack the Mythos-inspired executive order "Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security," which the Trump administration issued on June 2 after an initial delay …
Show notes
In this episode, we unpack the Mythos-inspired executive order "Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security," which the Trump administration issued on June 2 after an initial delay (2:10). We also cover the draft federal AI framework released by Reps. Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan (14:53) and recent proposals for the U.S. government to acquire shares of American AI companies (24:55).
Bridging the Public-Private Tech Talent Divide with Arun Gupta
In this episode of the AI Policy Podcast, Wadhwani AI Center Director Aalok Mehta is joined by Arun Gupta, CEO of NobleReach Foundation and experienced venture capitalist, for a discussion on bridging the …
Show notes
In this episode of the AI Policy Podcast, Wadhwani AI Center Director Aalok Mehta is joined by Arun Gupta, CEO of NobleReach Foundation and experienced venture capitalist, for a discussion on bridging the technology talent gap between the private and public sectors. They will cover the mission and accomplishments of NobleReach, the newly launched US Tech Force and its implications for AI adoption across the federal government, and how AI is reshaping opportunities for the next generation of workers. Arun Gupta is CEO of NobleReach Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young technologists to move between the private and public sectors. He is the co-author of two books, Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society and The Mission Generation: Reclaim Your Purpose, Rewrite Success, Rebuild Our Future. Arun is also a Lecturer at Stanford University and an Adjunct Entrepreneurship Professor and Senior Advisor to the Provost at Georgetown University. This event is made possible by general support to CSIS.
Pope Leo Weighs in on AI and Trump Postpones Mythos-Inspired Executive Order
In this episode, Aalok Mehta makes his first appearance as the new host of the AI Policy Podcast. We briefly discuss what listeners can expect in this new chapter of the podcast before diving into Pope Leo …
Show notes
In this episode, Aalok Mehta makes his first appearance as the new host of the AI Policy Podcast. We briefly discuss what listeners can expect in this new chapter of the podcast before diving into Pope Leo XIV's recent encyclical on AI (1:45). We also cover President Trump's postponed executive order on AI and cybersecurity, including what the EO likely contained and why its signing ceremony was ultimately called off (18:09).
The Next Chapter of the AI Policy Podcast
In this episode, founding host Gregory C. Allen announces his departure from CSIS and introduces Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center, as the new host of the AI Policy Podcast.
Unpacking Russian Military AI with Kateryna Bondar
In this episode, we are joined by Wadhwani AI Center fellow Kateryna Bondar to discuss her recent reports on Russia's military AI, "How Russia Is Building a Sovereign Drone Ecosystem for AI-Driven Autonomy" and …
Show notes
In this episode, we are joined by Wadhwani AI Center fellow Kateryna Bondar to discuss her recent reports on Russia's military AI, "How Russia Is Building a Sovereign Drone Ecosystem for AI-Driven Autonomy" and "How Russia Is Reshaping Command and Control for AI-Enabled Warfare."
We cover Kateryna's background (1:07) before doing a deep dive into the role technological innovation has played in the conflict in Ukraine (7:49). Kateryna then explains why AI capabilities in warfare "cannot be built, can only be grown" (22:24) and unpacks the report's claim that Russia has likely fielded a fully autonomous unmanned system in combat (53:02).
Read Kateryna's report on Russia's AI-enabled C2 architecture here.
Read her report on Russia's sovereign drone ecosystem here.
Inside Project Maven and AI-Powered Warfare with Katrina Manson
In this special episode, we sit down with Katrina Manson, author of Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare. We explore what drew Katrina to this story (2:31), trace the turbulent …
Show notes
In this special episode, we sit down with Katrina Manson, author of Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare. We explore what drew Katrina to this story (2:31), trace the turbulent history of Project Maven and the obstacles it has overcome (8:03), examine how the U.S. leveraged Maven to support Ukraine against Russia (31:32), and discuss Katrina's latest reporting on Maven's role in the ongoing conflict with Iran (47:40).
You can order a copy of Katrina's book here.
Trump's National AI Framework and Super Micro's Chip Smuggling Indictment
In this episode, we unpack President Trump's new national framework for AI legislation (11:15), including reactions from experts and policymakers (39:44). We also discuss the indictment of a Super Micro …
Show notes
In this episode, we unpack President Trump's new national framework for AI legislation (11:15), including reactions from experts and policymakers (39:44). We also discuss the indictment of a Super Micro co-founder for smuggling Nvidia chips into China (42:59) and Nvidia receiving permission to sell H200 chips to China (57:04).
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