The AI Policy Podcast

Hosted by Center for Strategic and International Studies

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104

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Aug 2026

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About the show

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.

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August 13, 202646 min

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 (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

August 11, 20261 min

The AI Policy Podcast Trailer

August 6, 202644 min

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 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

August 4, 202640 min

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 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.

July 30, 202645 min

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 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.

July 23, 202648 min

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 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).

July 16, 202643 min

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 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.

July 9, 202638 min

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 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 ⁠⁠AI Safety Measures Act (SB 315) Lutnick's June 30 letter Anthropic's blog post "Redeploying Fable 5" OpenAI's blog post "Previewing GPT-5.6 Sol"  "Anthropic Accuses Alibaba of 'Illicitly' Accessing AI Models" (Bloomberg) "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

July 2, 202639 min

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 (10:28), opportunities and risks from using AI to advance scientific discovery (14:15), and more.

June 25, 202630 min

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 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).