POLITICO Tech

POLITICO

The POLITICO Tech podcast is your download on the disruption that technology is bringing to politics and policy. New episodes on Thursdays.

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1,037 episodes
Updated Dec 18, 2025

Episodes1037

Newest first

Apr 24, 2024 · 20 min
Former FCC Chair Ajit Pai on net neutrality’s return — and why he hates it
The Federal Communications Commission will vote tomorrow to re-impose net neutrality, controversial regulations that require internet service providers to treat all websites equally. Ajit Pai is the former Republican FCC chair who took them away back in 2017. And he joins POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly to challenge Democrats’ reasons for bringing the rules back -- even as he says most Americans have moved on.
Apr 23, 2024 · 17 min
Montana's Attorney General on the state's battle to ban TikTok
All eyes are on the Senate this week, where lawmakers are taking up a bill that forces TikTok to find a new owner. Now, Congress can be an unpredictable place. But things have never looked worse for the popular app. So, what happens next? It seems clear that TikTok would take the U.S. government to court, likely arguing that forcing a sale, and potentially imposing a ban, violates the constitutional rights of TikTok’s investors and users. Right now, TikTok is locked in a lawsuit with the state o
Apr 22, 2024 · 24 min
One-on-one with the UAE's AI minister
The United Arab Emirates has produced some of the world’s biggest open-source AI models. And that was before Microsoft put big money into one of its AI companies last week — part of the U.S. effort to pull the Gulf nation away from China’s influence. At an Atlantic Council event, the country’s AI minister, His Excellency Omar Al Olama, spoke with host Steven Overly about AI alliances, global rulemaking and more.
Apr 19, 2024 · 9 min
Inside the Chinese embassy’s quiet lobbying on TikTok
Officials from the Chinese embassy have been making the rounds on Capitol Hill as U.S. lawmakers weigh a forced sale of the video-sharing app TikTok. Reporter Hailey Fuchs joins POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly to explain what happened inside the meetings and how they could complicate TikTok’s own lobbying efforts.
Apr 18, 2024 · 17 min
Ciao. Adios. Au revoir. Will AI squash European languages?
Our language is fundamental to our cultural identity. And many European countries worry artificial intelligence will erase those languages and the cultures that come with them. But could those fears really be code for falling behind in the AI race? POLITICO reporter Gian Volpicelli joins host Steven Overly to discuss.
Apr 17, 2024 · 19 min
‘Godzilla vs. Kong: AI Edition’: Talking net neutrality with a former FCC chair
The Federal Communications Commission will vote next week to restore regulations that require internet service providers to treat websites equally, otherwise known as net neutrality. Tom Wheeler was the chair of the FCC the last time those rules were put in place. He joins POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly to talk about how artificial intelligence gives new life to this old policy battle.
Apr 16, 2024 · 17 min
The White House defends contentious foreign surveillance law
The future of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act now lies in the Senate, following a contentious path to reauthorization in the House last week. Behind the scenes, the Biden administration has been pressing both chambers to extend the law -- and successfully pushing back on some proposed reforms. On POLITICO Tech, National Security Council legal adviser Joshua Geltzer defends the need for government spy programs amid simmering global conflicts.
Apr 15, 2024 · 17 min
This tax day, how AI is changing up the IRS
Today, we’re talking taxes. Stanford law professor Dan Ho has been working with the IRS to figure out how machine learning and artificial intelligence can improve the agency -- including a study he led last year that found evidence of racial bias in its audits. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly talks with Ho about using AI to root our human bias, and how the technology is changing up Tax Day.
Apr 12, 2024 · 14 min
The controversy around FISA, a key foreign surveillance law, explained
The House is expected to vote on a key foreign surveillance law set to expire next week. The fight over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, has pit national security hawks who defend the government surveillance program against lawmakers who say it's been used to unlawfully spy on American citizens. Host Steven Overly unpacks the criticisms with Elizabeth Goitein, a former Capitol Hill attorney who now leads the Liberty and National Security Program at NYU’s Brennan Center for Jus
Apr 11, 2024 · 17 min
‘Picture your MAGA auntie's Twitter account’: Why a Chinese disinformation group started imitating Americans
The Chinese disinformation network known as Spamouflage has never gotten much traction on social media. Then, a small number of accounts started pretending to be American. On POLITICO Tech, senior analyst Elise Thomas from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue explains why pro-Trump and anti-Biden tweets from a group with ties to the Chinese Communist Party may signal deeper concerns about 2024 election interference.
Apr 10, 2024 · 14 min
A skeptic's guide to the new data privacy bill
There’s a new data privacy bill floating around Capitol Hill this week -- backed by the chairs of two powerful committees. And at first glance, it seems to have a lot of potential. But POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly and privacy reporter Alfred Ng discuss the sticking points that could cause the legislation to stall.
Apr 9, 2024 · 18 min
One critic's case for why artificial intelligence is actually dumb
Gary Marcus is a cognitive scientist and serial entrepreneur who is an AI critic, and not shy about it. He’s one of the tech experts pushing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and others in Washington to pass sweeping and stringent legislation to rein in AI -- technology that he doesn’t actually think is very smart. Gary has written a piece for POLITICO magazine, out tomorrow, arguing what all should be included in a big AI bill. And he talked with Steven Overly to make his case.
Apr 8, 2024 · 18 min
Millions of kids use Roblox. Now, it wants Washington’s attention.
If you haven’t heard of Roblox, your kids certainly have. It’s an online platform for games and other virtual experiences, and most of its users are under 17 years old. As Congress weighs kids’ online safety legislation, Roblox is dispatching its CEO and other executives to D.C. this week. POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly caught up with Roblox policy chief Nicky Jackson Colaco to discuss.
Apr 5, 2024 · 23 min
How the U.S. is becoming more like China on tech
The Biden administration is in the midst of its latest attempt at a diplomatic reset with China, its chief geopolitical rival on all things tech. Council on Foreign Relations President Mike Froman — who served as U.S. trade representative during President Barack Obama’s second term — joins POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly to discuss the Biden administration’s protectionist economic policies, and why becoming “more like China” may be necessary.
Apr 4, 2024 · 13 min
What Trump’s return would mean for trans-atlantic tech relations
U.S. and European officials will meet in Belgium today and tomorrow for the latest gathering of the Trade and Technology Council, a body meant to mend the trans-atlantic relationship following four years of President Donald Trump. But the TTC is now weighing its next act — and what it means if Trump returns to power. POLITICO Tech host Steven Overly and POLITICO tech correspondent Mark Scott discuss.
Apr 3, 2024 · 17 min
This organization could decide how AI is regulated in health care
AI is coming to health systems — in fact, it's already here. As it rolls out, the government is taking a light approach to regulation, issuing guidance, but no binding rules. The Coalition for Health AI is working to develop standards for vetting health care AI via assurance labs. Politico reporter Ruth Reader talks with host Steven Overly and then Dr. Brian Anderson, the CEO of the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), about how to create safeguards around these new technologies.
Apr 2, 2024 · 18 min
What a U.S.-UK AI alliance really means
The U.S. and UK have inked a memorandum of understanding that will see the allies join forces on AI safety research and testing. But what will that mean in reality? On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly sits down with UK tech secretary Michelle Donelan.
Apr 1, 2024 · 18 min
How surging tech demand will stress America’s power grid
Electricity demand in the United States is projected to skyrocket over the next decade, partly because of the rising power needs of data centers and electric vehicles. That poses big challenges for the power grid. Today, host Catherine Morehouse sits down with Rob Gramlich, founder and president of consulting firm Grid Strategies, to discuss whether the grid can handle this surge in power demand — and what happens if it can’t.
Mar 29, 2024 · 17 min
The author of 'Broad Band' on what you didn't know about tech’s hidden heroines
Claire Evans, the author of "Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet," joins guest host and Deputy Tech Editor Daniella Cheslow to talk about frequently overlooked female tech pioneers.
Mar 28, 2024 · 17 min
The author of ‘Chip War’ on the state of the fight
Chris Miller wrote the definitive book on microchips. Now, the author of “Chip War” joins guest host Phelim Kine to break down the U.S. strategy for becoming a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, and the implications for the country’s ever-complicated relationship with China.