POLITICO Tech

We’ve talked a lot lately about tech leaders cozying up to President Donald Trump. Well, Democrats are now fighting to reclaim their place as the party of Silicon Valley elites. Or at least, trying to stop more rich tech dudes from drifting to the right. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks with national political reporter Elena Schneider about House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries trying...

Samantha Radocchia, known more widely as Sam Rad, is an anthropologist and tech entrepreneur who thinks a lot about the future, and has advised organizations like the United Nations and Federal Reserve on how to prepare for it. Society is moving toward a decentralized “operating system,” she says, one that will scramble existing institutions of power. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks wit...

As Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency pursue sweeping cuts across federal agencies, the Trump administration is also scaling back efforts to confront election disinformation. Several officials in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a political target of Republicans since the 2020 election, were recently put on leave. On POLITICO Tech, cybersecurity reporter Mag...

World leaders and tech luminaries will be flocking to Paris in the days ahead for the AI Action Summit. These global gatherings started over a year ago, but since then, the international AI agenda has shifted dramatically. The focus on mitigating the technology’s risks is now all about rolling it out fast. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks to AI pioneer and professor Yoshua Bengio about t...

President Donald Trump may have hit pause on tariffs against Mexico and Canada, but his trade penalties on China are still in place. That includes a 10 percent tariffs on all Chinese imports, including consumer electronics and other tech products. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks to Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, about the implications f...

Elon Musk is moving fast to dismantle and downsize federal agencies. But his Department of Government Efficiency is drawing scrutiny from privacy and cybersecurity advocates, not to mention Democrats, who fear its employees may be mishandling government data. On POLITICO Tech, Alan Butler, president and executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, breaks down his concerns about...

DeepSeek has stoked fresh concerns in Washington about America’s standing in the AI race. But the real policy action is happening in the states, where legislatures are moving faster than Congress to regulate. Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley investment firm with ties to the Trump administration, is now warning against a medley of AI laws — and wants the federal government to preempt states...

Everytown for Gun Safety is deploying artificial intelligence in the divisive debate over gun control. And its newly launched chatbot, “Ask Everytown,” will answer questions about gun violence prevention. But research shows AI not only has the power to inform people, but to persuade them — even people with entrenched political views. On POLITICO Tech, Everytown’s senior vice president of law and p...

In order to satisfy AI's big energy demands, President Donald Trump wants data centers to connect directly to power plants. But his plan could face problems because of a wonky federal energy regulatory agency: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. On POLITICO Tech, guest host Nirmal Mulaikal and POLITICO energy reporter Catherine Morehouse discuss why Trump could have trouble getting regulator...

President Donald Trump is expected to begin his global trade war as soon as Saturday, and the tech industry will surely find itself in the crossfire. His promise to slap new tariffs on China, in particular, could leave some tech companies vulnerable to retaliation from Beijing. On POLITICO Tech, longtime journalist and POLITICO contributor Bob Davis joins host Steven Overly to discuss how U.S.-Chi...

Three tech executives stood beside President Donald Trump at the White House last week and pledged to spend $500 billion to build AI data centers. Two of them are household names in the U.S. The third isn’t as well known: Masayoshi Son, the chairman and CEO of SoftBank. But Son has long been a global power player in tech and, when it comes to Trump, a shrewd political player as well. On POLITICO T...

Over the weekend, Silicon Valley had a collective freakout. A Chinese company called DeepSeek released a new artificial intelligence model on par with American rivals, and appeared to do so at a fraction of the cost. For Washington and Wall Street, it’s a major wake up call that China’s AI ambitions haven’t been stifled. On POLITICO Tech, Center for a New American Security fellow Bill Drexel joins...

President Donald Trump’s first week in office was a fire hose of tech policy news, from executive orders to AI initiatives. To help break down Trump’s tech agenda so far, POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly called up former Congressman Will Hurd. The Texas Republican was at the forefront of tech and cyber issues in Congress, and he’s now the chief strategy officer at a defense tech firm. Though Hurd...

A lot has been written about billionaire Elon Musk and his business empire. But his wealth and influence is now greater than ever as he entered the White House this week with President Donald Trump. POLITICO senior staff writer Michael Kruse set out to understand Musk through 199 of his own quotes, words that offer insight into his upbringing, his career and his outlook. On POLITICO Tech, Kruse jo...

President Donald Trump brought the leaders of OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank to the White House this week, and announced they will spend $500 billion to build AI data centers. But Trump’s photo-op moment was quickly dissed online… by his Silicon Valley confidante, Elon Musk. On POLITICO Tech, E&E News energy technology editor Christa Marshall joins host Steven Overly to discuss the new AI initiative,...

President Donald Trump kicked off his return to the White House with a spate of executive orders aimed at the tech sector — and marked a new era for tech in Washington. But the industry’s big show at the inauguration doesn’t mean the next four years will be easy. On POLITICO Tech, the president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Rob Atkinson, joins host Steven Overly to discu...

In Washington, seating charts are not left to chance. And yesterday’s inauguration sent a message that Big Tech not only has a seat at President Donald Trump’s table — but a really good one. And that industry leaders are more than happy to have it. Digital Future Daily author Derek Robertson joins host Steven Overly to discuss Trump’s brand of digital populism, and why his campaign rhetoric and em...

Donald Trump officially becomes president today and he’s pledged to save TikTok upon taking office. The app is now technically banned in the U.S., though after much turmoil this weekend, users can still log into their accounts. Trump said he not only wants to delay the ban, but work out a deal that would make the U.S. a partial owner in TikTok. On POLITICO Tech, law professor and former DOJ attorn...

Inauguration festivities get underway in Washington this weekend — and tech executives will be making a splash. They’re hosting lavish balls and intimate receptions, and sitting behind President-elect Donald Trump as he gets sworn into office on Monday. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly and POLITICO White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns delve into Silicon Valley’s brazen efforts to court the inc...

In his new book, “It Takes Chutzpah,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) reflects on his 44-year career in Washington, including a pivotal law he co-authored that gave rise to the modern internet. And as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, Wyden says he’s still mustering chutzpah. On POLITICO Tech, Wyden joins host Steven Overly to discuss the incoming administration’s plans for sweeping...

The devastating wildfires burning across Los Angeles have prompted plenty of finger pointing — and artificial intelligence is catching some of the blame. Data centers consume large amounts of water and electricity, and critics have been quick to pounce on the industry’s environmental footprint. Now, California lawmakers are looking for ways to make AI more sustainable. POLITICO’s California tech r...

Just a couple years ago, the crypto industry was a pariah among politicians. Now, it’s poised to have a big year in Washington. And how it got here is no fluke. Industry leaders shelled out massive sums of money to elect crypto-friendly candidates, and the result is a Congress and incoming administration primed to carry out their policy goals. On POLITICO Tech, Coinbase president and chief operati...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg offered a sharp critique of the fact checkers on his social media platforms last week, saying he will no longer use them because they were too politically biased and undermined public trust. That didn’t sit well with Alexios Mantzarlis at Cornell Tech. Mantzarlis is the former founding director of the International Fact-Checking Network, where years ago he helped set up Me...

TikTok is set to be banned in the U.S. in just nine days. Today, the company will try to convince the Supreme Court to strike the ban down — or at least put it on ice. And President-elect Donald Trump has requested the Supreme Court punt the ban until after he’s taken office and can try to broker some sort of solution. Still, TikTok has some long odds. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks wi...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced major changes this week to how his company will moderate posts on Facebook and Instagram. Meta’s current fact-checking system resulted in political bias and censorship, Zuckerberg said, so the company is moving to a looser model — just as President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Cato Institute scholar and Meta Oversight Board member John Samples joins host Stev...