Explore every episode of the podcast The AI Rules Podcast

Rob Reich is a professor of political science at Stanford University and a leading voice at the intersection of technology and society. He is the co-author of System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot and recently served as a senior advisor at the U.S. AI Safety Institute. 

Rob joined Var Shankar to discuss:

• The shifting landscape of AI governance federally and in the states
• Why governments are increasingly concerned with national security risks from frontier models
• How to involve civil society in setting technical standards for AI
• What a "mature ecosystem" of independent AI evaluators would look like
• How to help younger people navigate the AI age 

Michelle De Mooy is the author of The AI Archipelago. She is the Principal of De Mooy Consulting. In previous roles, she served as Director of the Tech & Public Policy program at Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy and Director of the Privacy and Data Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Michelle joined Var Shankar to discuss:

• How AI capabilities and risks emerge from networked interactions between systems
• The role of 'AI culture' - and how to measure it
• How to improve AI governance approaches that focus on individual AI systems
• Why we may have limited time to shape AI's collective behavior
• How policymakers and AI governance practitioners should respond

Assemblymember Alex Bores is a New York state lawmaker and sponsor of the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act.

Alex joined Var Shankar to discuss:

• What drew him to the AI space as a lawmaker
• Emerging AI opportunities and risks
• How the Empire AI effort is strengthening New York's economy
• The RAISE Act and its future
• How lawmakers in other jurisdictions should think about AI

Cathy Li leads AI initiatives at the World Economic Forum. Recently, the Forum's AI Governance Alliance released a Playbook on Advancing Responsible AI Innovation.

Cathy joined Var Shankar to discuss:

• Why the speed of AI transformation was a theme at Davos
• How WEF's new playbook provides actionable guidance for policymakers and practitioners
• The Turing / LEGO project that enabled kids to have meaningful input into AI design
• Why interoperability is critical for AI governance
• How WEF's AI work spans fields as varied as energy, robotics, competitiveness and regional collaboration

Olivia Zhu previously served as Assistant Director of AI Policy at the White House. In that capacity, she helped develop President Biden's landmark Trustworthy AI Executive Order and the Office of Management and Budget's Memoranda on AI.

Olivia joined Var Shankar to discuss:

• Trump's AI Action Plan and its relationship to the administration's overall priorities
• The administration's decision to allow the sale of Nvidia H20 chips to China
• Why efforts to expedite permits for data centers should be matched with initiatives to optimize the electrical grid
• Updates to the OMB Memoranda on AI
• How undergraduates should plan their careers in the AI age

Nick Moës leads The Future Society, an organization that seeks to align AI with human values through better governance. For several years, Nick has monitored the development of General Purpose AI models and their impacts on politics and industry.

Nick joined Var Shankar to discuss:

• How the 'AI safety' narrative has evolved in policy circles
• Why the EU AI Act provides a robust and far-sighted model for regulation of frontier AI models
• What's behind 'AI fatigue' among many organizations and individuals
• Why we need to pay more attention to the mental health consequences of using AI assistants
• What to expect from this year's Athens Roundtable on AI and the Rule of Law