Explain to Shane

AI Governance and Open Models: Who Controls the Pace of Innovation? (with Milton Mueller and Thierer)

Employees at several leading AI companies are asking the US government and international bodies to slow the development of frontier models. Doing so would put governments in the position of deciding when new models are safe enough to release. Yet policymakers also warn that the United States must move faster than China and that prerelease reviews could stifle innovation. Are these two goals in tension with one another? Can existing laws and liability rules address AI harms without giving governments control over which models reach the market? And can any international institution realistically govern a technology spread across the entire digital economy? To discuss this, Shane is joined by Milton Mueller and Adam Thierer. Milton is a professor and director of the master of science in cybersecurity program at Georgia Tech University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy. He is also the cofounder and director of the Internet Governance Project at Georgia Tech. Adam is a resident senior fellow with the technology and innovation team at the R Street Institute and a visiting senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

Breakthrough Models and New Cyber Threats (with Evan Swarztrauber)

Until recently, concerns about AI agents conducting autonomous cyber operations were largely theoretical. The OpenAI–Hugging Face incident in July changed that, while Anthropic’s Mythos exposed software vulnerabilities buried for decades. Together, these incidents have forced policymakers to reconsider how governments and companies prepare for AI-enabled cyber threats. Can the federal government and private sector keep pace with increasingly capable models? Will open-source AI strengthen cyber defenses or make dangerous capabilities harder to contain? And can policymakers encourage companies to share threat information while holding them accountable for insecure systems? Shane joins Evan Swarztrauber in a crossover episode with The Center Edge. Evan is the founder of CorePoint Strategies and a senior fellow at the Digital Progress Institute. He previously served at the Federal Communications Commission as a policy adviser to then-Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Brendan Carr.

Can Markets Modernize Spectrum? (with Roslyn Layton)

Americans rely on wireless connections for nearly every part of modern life, and demand for the airwaves that make those connections possible is only growing. But much of the nation’s spectrum remains accessible by federal agencies under a system approaching its 100th anniversary. How can the United States free up more spectrum for commercial use? Can the military rely more heavily on commercial networks without compromising national security? And could market-based incentives help federal agencies use this valuable resource more efficiently? To discuss this, Shane is joined by Roslyn Layton, executive vice president at Strand Consult. She is also a digital policy fellow at Michigan State University’s Quello Center and a senior fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. She previously served as a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and on the president-elect’s transition team for the Federal Communications Commission.

Frontier AI and the Cybersecurity Challenges (with Kevin Frazier)

New frontier AI models are changing the cybersecurity landscape. As advanced systems become more capable of finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities, the federal government is trying to determine how to protect critical infrastructure and maintain national security. The administration’s June executive order on AI and cybersecurity offers one answer, but it also raises several harder questions. Can the government keep up with rapidly developing models? If officials want to review every model before release, is that process really voluntary? And how can policymakers keep American networks safe without sacrificing innovation? To unpack what comes next, Shane is joined by Kevin Frazier in a crossover episode with Scaling Laws. Kevin is the director of the AI Innovation and Law Program at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and a senior fellow at the Abundance Institute. He has testified before Congress on artificial intelligence and emerging technology issues and is a regular contributor to Lawfare.

Congressional Use of Artificial Intelligence (with Aubrey Wilson)

Artificial intelligence is being integrated into nearly every industry, but how is Congress using AI? As policymakers and their staff work to serve their constituents, can AI be used as a tool to modernize legislative operations, better equip staff, and strengthen our democratic processes? Congress has a unique opportunity to embrace this emerging technology, and failing to do so may leave it behind. To discuss this, Shane is joined by Aubrey Wilson, managing director of POPVOX Foundation. She has extensive experience on Capitol Hill as a former House legislative assistant, legislative correspondent, and deputy staff director for the Committee on House Administration in the 118th Congress. She was also a member of the R Street Institute’s governance policy and federal affairs team. Her work on the Hill and in academia provides a creative foundation for discussing how Congress is using AI.