POLITICO Tech

Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) is big on investing in research in cutting-edge technologies, especially artificial intelligence and biotechnology. But lately, that’s put him in a position of pushing back against the leader of his own party, President Donald Trump, who has imposed steep and swift cuts to federal research funding at agencies and universities. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly sits down...

Vice President JD Vance told a crypto conference this week that the industry “finally has a champion and an ally in the White House.” And, he’s right. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has largely reversed the industry’s fortunes in Washington. But the industry’s fortunes are now Trump’s fortunes, as the president and his family plunge deeper into the digital currency business. That’s st...

House Republicans narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” reconciliation bill, including a provision that would block states from enforcing new AI regulations for a decade. The proposal, which now heads to the Senate, has backing from industry but faces fierce opposition from state attorneys general and AI safety hawks. Even some opponents of tech regulation worry the moratorium...

A large contingent of Silicon Valley CEOs followed President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia this week, where a number of them announced billions of dollars in AI-related investments and business partnerships. Mohammed Soliman, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, says this is the new Middle East — where the relationship with the U.S. is driven by tech and innovation, not just oil and securi...

The saga over control of OpenAI took yet another turn this week when the ChatGPT maker announced it will no longer try to splinter off from the nonprofit that controls it. But critics of that plan, including former OpenAI employee Page Hedley, aren’t exactly taking a victory lap. On POLITICO Tech, Hedley joins host Steven Overly to explain why the latest news still leaves some doubt about OpenAI’s...

President Donald Trump was sworn into office just over 100 days ago. And ever since Inauguration Day, tech industry leaders like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have been a regular presence at the White House. But the start of Trump’s term — from tariffs to antitrust trials to DOGE cuts — has been rocky for Silicon Valley. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Brendan Bordelon joins host Steven Overly for a de...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent hours in a Washington courtroom this week answering questions about his decision to buy Instagram and WhatsApp more than a decade ago — and whether the social media empire he now oversees is a monopoly. Losing the high-stakes lawsuit, which was brought by the Federal Trade Commission, could ultimately lead to Meta being broken up. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly...

Washington is looking to regulate how kids use the internet with legislation that could alter how online platforms collect data, monitor content and design features. Roblox has a lot at stake in that debate — with some 90 million daily users, many of them young kids, who flock to the platform to play games and socialize. On POLITICO Tech, Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki joins host Steven Overly to discus...

After days of stock market mayhem, President Donald Trump pulled back most of the tariffs he slapped on U.S. trade partners. But not China. Trump upped his tariffs on China to 125 percent — the latest shot in a rapidly escalating trade war. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks to Nazak Nikakhtar, a former Commerce Department official during Trump’s first term and law partner at Wiley, about...

What’s Washington without Elon Musk? That’s a question many Republicans are hoping to answer in the weeks ahead after President Donald Trump told allies that Musk’s time in the White House is soon coming to an end. But getting the world’s richest man and designated  small-government crusader to move on will be complicated, even if Musk does have a slumping business empire to run. On POLITICO Tech,...

“Liberation Day” arrived at the White House and President Donald Trump, as promised, slapped sweeping tariffs on the world. But what comes next may be less predictable — especially for tech. From the TikTok sale to digital services taxes, tech issues are now a bargaining chip as countries negotiate with the Trump administration to ease tariffs. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly chats with Micha...

Greenland’s “Great Race” isn’t just a dog sled competition. It’s increasingly a hunt for critical minerals and AI data centers — two national security priorities for President Donald Trump and a business opportunity being pursued by some in his orbit. On POLITICO Tech, E&E News reporter Hannah Northey joins host Steven Overly in the wake of Vice President JD Vance’s controversial visit to explain...

Were the messages “war plans” or “attack plans”? Was the information classified, sensitive or something in between? If you put aside the spin around Signalgate, security experts warn secret military operations shouldn’t be shared on commercial messaging apps like Signal in the first place. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly discusses the tech implications of this week’s White House fiasco with G...

President Donald Trump has many  U.S. allies on edge, but you wouldn’t know it from talking to Peter Kyle, the UK’s secretary of state for science, innovation and technology. He’s a relentless believer that the UK and U.S. will join forces on artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies. But his rosy vision faces real obstacles, like the Trump administration’s criticism of the UK’s...

Silicon Valley’s bet that a Trump administration would be friendly to tech has a big payoff: Vice President JD Vance. At the American Dynamism Summit this week, Vance spoke at length about bolstering U.S. innovation and manufacturing, and bridging the divide between so-called “populists” and “techno-optimists.” The summit was hosted by venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz, which became the tech...

This Elon Musk-made moment of government upheaval has some business executives seeing dollar signs, and that includes Matt Calkins, the CEO of software company Appian. Calkins contends there are billions of dollars to be saved in how the government buys stuff, but reforming that process requires “the most powerful digital worker ever invented” — artificial intelligence. On POLITICO Tech, Calkins t...

François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry, says America’s northern neighbor is “not like some small country that you can push around.” That’s why Champagne is in Washington today with other Canadian officials seeking an economic reset after a week of tariff-fueled tensions with the U.S. On POLITICO Tech, Champagne joins host Steven Overly to discuss Preside...

Nick Viall became famous after appearing on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette — but used podcasting to turn reality TV stardom into lasting relevance. So last week, YouTube brought The Viall Files host to Washington to teach political staffers how to tap online creators to spread their message. Coming off of last year’s “podcast election,” Viall says the medium has gained new levels of media credi...

This week, President Donald Trump put tariffs in place — again. He then walked most of them back — again. The administration’s erratic trade policy is also causing a great deal of anxiety in California, where the state budget depends on ample tax revenue from the tech industry. On POLITICO Tech, California tech reporter Chase DiFeliciantonio joins host Steven Overly to explain why lawmakers and ec...

Three Army brigades have been trying to prove that the future of war can be cheaper — even before Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency came in demanding budget cuts. The brigades are part of a program that outfits soldiers with off-the-shelf tech that doesn’t take years to build or cost billions of dollars to buy. On POLITICO Tech, Gen. Randy George, the Army’s chief of staff, discusses...

It’s been said that software is “eating the world.” But Catherine Bracy, the founder and CEO of TechEquity, says tech investors are actually reshaping the economy. And she explains why that’s a problem in a new book, “World Eaters: How Venture Capital is Cannibalizing the Economy.” But the influence of venture capital now reaches into our politics and government. On POLITICO Tech, Bracy tells host...

Joshua Zeitz is a historian and best-selling author who thinks America is living through a second Gilded Age. A period that is reminiscent of the late 1800s, when railroad and banking magnates held enormous sway over the economy and government. Except today, those moguls build social media sites and rocketships and electric vehicles. On POLITICO Tech, Zeitz outlines the parallels between then and...

Anne Marshall resigned from her role as director of engineering and data science at the U.S. Digital Service last month. The decision followed staffing cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. “This is not the mission I came to serve,” Marshall wrote on LinkedIn at the time. On POLITICO Tech, Marshall tells host Steven Overly about her decision to leave and what she thinks everyone...

The U.S. and UK will negotiate “a new economic deal with advanced technology at its core,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday at the White House. The details of the arrangement remain an open question, but President Donald Trump added it could get done quickly. On POLITICO Tech, London-based trade and technology deputy editor Joseph Bambridge joins host Steven Overly to talk about pot...

Ann Lewis has seen the government waste a lot of money on bad technology. As director of Technology Transformation Services under President Joe Biden, her office was tasked with revamping and updating government technology. Lewis says there’s a version of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency that could have been bipartisan (and less controversial). On POLITICO Tech, Lewis tells host Ste...