The AI Policy Podcast

Episode

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  OpenAI Pauses RL Training and Anthropic Adds Watermarks to AI-Generated Text 20.08.2026 47mnt

  This week, we cover updates from the ongoing cyber saga, including OpenAI's two-week pause on RL training and the cyber capabilities of Z.ai's latest model GLM-5.3. We also unpack Anthropic's move to add watermarks to text generated by Claude in compliance with the EU AI Act. Timestamps: Mark Zuckerberg's essay on AI (00:20) OpenAI pauses RL training (5:56) Cyber capabilities of GLM-5.3 (15:29) EU AI Act refresher (24:29) How Anthropic's text watermark works (31:21) What's driving the backlash against Anthropic (40:59)   Additional Reading: Zuckerberg's essay "The Future is for Everyone": https://www.meta.com/thefutureisforeveryone/  OpenAI announces two-week pause on RL training: https://openai.com/index/pacing-model-development-cyber-capabilities/  Letter from Sanders to tech CEOs: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/AI-Pause-Letter-FINAL.pdf  Letter from House reps to Mike Johnson: https://casar.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/casar.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/final-letter-to-speaker-johnson-requesting-ai-hearings-1.pdf  Z.ai blog post "GLM-5.3: Frontier Coding with Emergent Cyber Capabilities": https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.3  Z.ai article "Preparing GLM-5.3 for Open Release: A Responsible Path to Cyber Defense": https://x.com/Zai_org/status/2088280509474320693  "The EU's AI Transparency Code of Practice, Explained" (Tech Policy Press): https://www.techpolicy.press/the-eus-ai-transparency-code-of-practice-explained/  Anthropic blog post "How Claude's text watermark works": https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-text-watermark  "Toward a Federal Framework: Lessons from State and International Frontier AI Regulation" (CSIS): https://www.csis.org/analysis/toward-federal-framework-lessons-state-and-international-frontier-ai-regulation Check out our upcoming event, "AI Agent Containment Failures: Technical Realities and Policy Responses": https://www.csis.org/events/ai-agent-containment-failures-technical-realities-and-policy-responses
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  Planning for the AI-Powered Economy with Windfall's Adrian Brown 13.08.2026 46mnt

  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
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  The AI Policy Podcast Trailer 11.08.2026 1mnt

  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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  Three More AI Hacking Incidents, and a Push to 'Pace the Frontier' 06.08.2026 44mnt

  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
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  A Deep Dive Into IVOs with Fathom's Bri Treece 04.08.2026 40mnt

  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.
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  Japan's Take on AI Sovereignty with Hiroki Habuka 30.07.2026 45mnt

  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.
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  OpenAI Models Hack Hugging Face, Kimi K3's "DeepSeek Moment," and New York's Data Center Moratorium 23.07.2026 48mnt

  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).
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  Canada's Approach to AI Sovereignty with Sean Mullin 16.07.2026 43mnt

  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.
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  Illinois Mandates Third-Party Audits of Frontier Labs and Trump Lifts Export Controls on Anthropic's Fable 09.07.2026 38mnt

  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
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  Advancing AI Readiness with SeedAI's Austin Carson and Joshua New 02.07.2026 39mnt

  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.
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  White House Imposes Export Controls on Anthropic's Fable and Tech CEOs Join Heads of State at G7 Summit 25.06.2026 30mnt

  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).
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  Trump Signs Mythos-Inspired Executive Order After Delay and Reps. Obernolte and Trahan Release Draft Federal Framework for AI 11.06.2026 34mnt

  In this episode, we unpack the Mythos-inspired executive order "Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security," which the Trump administration issued on June 2 after an initial delay (2:10). We also cover the draft federal AI framework released by Reps. Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan (14:53) and recent proposals for the U.S. government to acquire shares of American AI companies (24:55).
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  Bridging the Public-Private Tech Talent Divide with Arun Gupta 04.06.2026 40mnt

  In this episode of the AI Policy Podcast, Wadhwani AI Center Director Aalok Mehta is joined by Arun Gupta, CEO of NobleReach Foundation and experienced venture capitalist, for a discussion on bridging the technology talent gap between the private and public sectors. They will cover the mission and accomplishments of NobleReach, the newly launched US Tech Force and its implications for AI adoption across the federal government, and how AI is reshaping opportunities for the next generation of workers. Arun Gupta is CEO of NobleReach Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young technologists to move between the private and public sectors. He is the co-author of two books, Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society and The Mission Generation: Reclaim Your Purpose, Rewrite Success, Rebuild Our Future. Arun is also a Lecturer at Stanford University and an Adjunct Entrepreneurship Professor and Senior Advisor to the Provost at Georgetown University. This event is made possible by general support to CSIS.
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  Pope Leo Weighs in on AI and Trump Postpones Mythos-Inspired Executive Order 28.05.2026 31mnt

  In this episode, Aalok Mehta makes his first appearance as the new host of the AI Policy Podcast. We briefly discuss what listeners can expect in this new chapter of the podcast before diving into Pope Leo XIV's recent encyclical on AI (1:45). We also cover President Trump's postponed executive order on AI and cybersecurity, including what the EO likely contained and why its signing ceremony was ultimately called off (18:09).
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  The Next Chapter of the AI Policy Podcast 16.04.2026 8mnt

  In this episode, founding host Gregory C. Allen announces his departure from CSIS and introduces Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center, as the new host of the AI Policy Podcast.
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  Unpacking Russian Military AI with Kateryna Bondar 14.04.2026 1j 15mnt

  In this episode, we are joined by Wadhwani AI Center fellow Kateryna Bondar to discuss her recent reports on Russia's military AI, "How Russia Is Building a Sovereign Drone Ecosystem for AI-Driven Autonomy" and "How Russia Is Reshaping Command and Control for AI-Enabled Warfare."  We cover Kateryna's background (1:07) before doing a deep dive into the role technological innovation has played in the conflict in Ukraine (7:49). Kateryna then explains why AI capabilities in warfare "cannot be built, can only be grown" (22:24) and unpacks the report's claim that Russia has likely fielded a fully autonomous unmanned system in combat (53:02). Read Kateryna's report on Russia's AI-enabled C2 architecture here.  Read her report on Russia's sovereign drone ecosystem here. 
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  Inside Project Maven and AI-Powered Warfare with Katrina Manson 26.03.2026 1j 1mnt

  In this special episode, we sit down with Katrina Manson, author of Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare. We explore what drew Katrina to this story (2:31), trace the turbulent history of Project Maven and the obstacles it has overcome (8:03), examine how the U.S. leveraged Maven to support Ukraine against Russia (31:32), and discuss Katrina's latest reporting on Maven's role in the ongoing conflict with Iran (47:40). You can order a copy of Katrina's book here.
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  Trump's National AI Framework and Super Micro's Chip Smuggling Indictment 24.03.2026 1j 2mnt

   In this episode, we unpack President Trump's new national framework for AI legislation (11:15), including reactions from experts and policymakers (39:44). We also discuss the indictment of a Super Micro co-founder for smuggling Nvidia chips into China (42:59) and Nvidia receiving permission to sell H200 chips to China (57:04).
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  Anthropic Goes to Court While Claude Goes to War in Iran 11.03.2026 1j 3mnt

  In this episode, we provide a detailed update on the Anthropic-Pentagon clash, including the Trump Administration's decision to label Anthropic "a supply chain risk" (4:17), the lawsuits Anthropic has filed in response (11:45), and what these lawsuits and recent reporting reveal about how Claude has been used in the war in Iran (43:20).
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  A Crash Course on AI Standards with Google DeepMind's Owen Larter 06.03.2026 38mnt

  In this episode, we're joined by Owen Larter, Head of Frontier Policy and Public Affairs at Google DeepMind, to explore the often-overlooked world of AI standards and the role they play in shaping how AI is developed and governed. We discuss what standards are and why they matter for technological progress (2:53), how standards are developed and the key organizations involved (16:05), the relationship between standards and AI regulation like the EU AI Act (26:58), and more.