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PODCAST

The Dynamist

Foundation for American Innovation

The Dynamist, a podcast by the Foundation for American Innovation, brings together the most important thinkers and doers to discuss the future of technology, governance, and innovation. The Dynamist is hosted by Evan Swarztrauber, former Policy Advisor at the Federal Communications Commission. Subscribe now!

technology

All Episodes

00:51:31

The U.S. and China Tussle on Rare Earths w/Joseph...

The Dynamist ·

2025/12/10

China's October decision to add five rare earth elements to its export control list confirmed what policymakers have long feared. China controls 60% of global critical mineral production and over 80% of refining capacity for materials that power everything from electric vehicles to fighter jets. AI data center buildouts have only spiked demand further. Add cobalt to the picture—70% of global reserves sit in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and China owns roughly 70% of that production—and you have

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00:39:52

The Feds Have a $100 Billion IT Problem w/Luke Hogg...

The Dynamist ·

2025/12/02

The federal government spends over $100 billion on information technology (IT) every year. About 80 percent of that goes toward operating and maintaining systems, many of which are long outdated and obsolete. Some federal IT systems are more than 50 years old.On day one of his presidency, Trump signed an EO that established the Department of Government Efficiency, which included a mandate to modernize “Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”While DOGE

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00:53:41

Trump Calls for Federal AI Standard w/Dean Ball

The Dynamist ·

2025/11/24

The push for a federal standard on AI is back. With support from President Trump, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is looking to add an effective ban on state-level AI regulation to the end of year National Defense Authorization Act. Despite the White House’s backing and strong support from the tech industry, the effort is facing bipartisan pushback, including from Republican governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis and Democrats in Congress.The battle is shaping up to be a redux of the moratorium

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01:05:08

Grid-Locked: The Battle over Data Centers w/ Asad...

The Dynamist ·

2025/11/17

The future of AI may be decided in backyards. Data Centers—the sprawling facilities designed to support the massive computing required to train and run AI models—are being built across the country. One estimate sees more than $1 trillion dollars in capital spending on data centers in the next four years. And they use electricity—a lot of it. While data centers can bring construction jobs, tax revenue, and economic development to their communities, they also bring complaints about power and water

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00:56:45

A Conservative Agenda for American Science Policy...

The Dynamist ·

2025/11/04

For three decades, conservatives abandoned science policy. Now they have a chance to rebuild it.That rebuilding effort comes with political challenges. Republicans' trust in science dropped thirty points over those decades. DOGE recently slashed budgets at the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. And HHS Sec RFK jr. is casting doubt on the efficacy of vaccines to the alarm of many Republicans in Congress. But beyond the politics, American science is also facing a

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00:52:21

Who Should Regulate AI, and How? w/Matt Perault and...

The Dynamist ·

2025/10/21

California governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law the country’s first comprehensive regulatory framework for high-risk AI development. SB 53, or the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, is aimed at the most powerful, “frontier” AI models that are trained with the highest computing and financial resources. The bill requires these developers to publish information on how they evaluate and mitigate risk, report catastrophic or critical safety incidents to state regulators,

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00:51:46

LIVE: FCC Launches Space Month

The Dynamist ·

2025/10/14

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr just announced "Space Month" at the agency. Speaking from Apex's new satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo, California, Carr laid out an ambitious plan to transform the FCC into what he calls a "license assembly line." The goal? Move from a "default no" to a "default yes" mindset, slash regulatory backlogs, and help American companies manufacture satellites at the speed and scale needed to compete with China's growing orbital ambitions. We're talking thousands of

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01:02:22

Trump Asserts Control over Agencies Humbled by Courts...

The Dynamist ·

2025/10/02

In President Trump’s second term, federal agencies are navigating uncharted territory. Two Supreme Court cases from June 2024 fundamentally changed how agencies can operate: Loper Bright ended Chevron deference—meaning courts no longer automatically defer to agencies' interpretations of ambiguous laws—and Jarkesy limited agencies' ability to impose civil penalties without jury trials.At the same time, President Trump is consolidating control over agencies that were traditionally seen as independent

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00:31:55

How to Stop U.S. Gov’t Payments to Dead People and...

The Dynamist ·

2025/09/25

In this follow-up to his interview with Senator Joni Ernst, Evan dives into the legislative weeds of government efficiency reform with FAI scholars Dan Lips and Lars Schönander. While DOGE grabbed headlines with federal worker layoffs and chainsaw imagery, the real lasting impact may come from less flashy but more fundamental fixes: stopping the Treasury Department from sending checks to dead people, preventing Chinese-linked companies from exploiting small business research programs, and codifying

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00:13:01

A Decade-Long War Against Government Waste w/ U.S....

The Dynamist ·

2025/09/24

For over a decade, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) has been a persistent voice against government waste, issuing "squeal awards" that exposed bureaucratic excess when few were paying attention. What began as a somewhat thankless crusade has now become the intellectual foundation for one of the Trump administration's signature initiatives. As Chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus, Ernst finds herself in the position of watching her longstanding concerns become White House

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00:59:41

NVIDIA and Intel: A Tale of Two Chip Firms w/Oren Cass

The Dynamist ·

2025/09/16

Not too long ago, NVIDIA was a niche tech company known for the graphics cards that powered computer gaming. Thanks to skyrocketing growth over the past few years, today, it’s a $4 trillion behemoth that designs cutting-edge chips necessary for frontier AI development. It’s an American company based in Santa Clara, CA. But, like so many other companies, it relies on foreign firms to manufacture its designs—primarily Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.Intel is the only major American company

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00:57:11

Tech Politics in the AI Age w/Nick Solheim

The Dynamist ·

2025/09/02

This week, we're crossposting this episode where our own Evan Swarztrauber joined American Moment CEO Nick Solheim on the Moment of Truth podcast to discuss the evolving politics of Big Tech on both left and right.Evan draws on his FCC experience during the net neutrality debates to explore how conservative thinking on tech regulation has shifted. He and Nick discuss key moments like the Parler de-platforming and examine whether recent conservative support for antitrust enforcement represents a

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00:51:41

There Are Chinese Spies at Stanford w/Elsa Johnson...

The Dynamist ·

2025/08/13

When Stanford students Elsa Johnson and Garret Molloy began investigating Chinese intelligence operations on their campus for the Stanford Review, they uncovered something far more extensive than expected: a systematic intelligence network that has transformed thousands of Chinese students into assets for Beijing's technology collection efforts. Their investigation revealed that between 20,000 and 50,000 Chinese students studying in America receive funding from Beijing's China Scholarship Council,

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00:51:03

An American AI Action Plan w/Charles Clancy and...

The Dynamist ·

2025/08/05

While Silicon Valley builds advanced AI models and Beijing integrates them into state power, Washington faces an uncomfortable reality: America's innovation machine might not be enough to win the AI race on its own. The problem isn't our technology—it's our government's ability to deploy it.The White House recently released “America’s AI Action Plan,” which aims to change this dynamic, calling for everything from "Manhattan Project-style" coordination to federal AI sandboxes. But with the Trump

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01:05:39

Racing China to the Quantum Future w/Dr. Peter Shadbolt

The Dynamist ·

2025/07/30

Quantum computing has been "five years away" for decades, but when NVIDIA's Jensen Huang says we've hit an inflection point, Congress listens and stocks soar. The reality? We're still building very expensive proof-of-concepts. Today's quantum computers run on 100 qubits—impressive to physicists, useless to you. Commercial viability needs a million qubits, a 10,000x leap that's not incremental progress but a complete reinvention.Unlike the familiar tech story where room-sized computers became pocket

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01:01:54

A Free Speech Recession? w/Ashkhen Kazaryen and Jacob...

The Dynamist ·

2025/07/24

Is free speech in global decline? A new survey suggests public support for free expression is dropping worldwide, with citizens in authoritarian countries like Venezuela and Hungary showing stronger commitment to free speech than many living in democracies.From the unfulfilled digital promises of the Arab Spring to Europe's controversial Digital Services Act, the Internet hasn't necessarily delivered the free speech revolution many predicted. Americans under 30 are less committed to free speech

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00:56:37

America First Antitrust w/ Assistant Attorney General...

The Dynamist ·

2025/07/15

Gail Slater is the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at the Department of Justice (DOJ). She was nominated in December of last year and confirmed by the Senate in March on a bipartisan 78-19 vote. She inherited some major antitrust cases brought by prior administrations—including against Google, Apple, Visa, and LiveNation. And in her short time, she has launched probes, brought and settled cases, and offered the DoJ’s opinion in private litigation. But beyond her role as a law enforcer,

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01:09:11

A Post-Mortem on a Moratorium w/James Wallner and...

The Dynamist ·

2025/07/09

The One Big Beautiful Bill is now President Trump's signature legislative achievement, including sweeping changes to taxes, immigration, and spending priorities. But buried in the budget reconciliation process, an AI regulation fight became one of the most contentious debates in the entire package.Senator Ted Cruz championed a 10-year moratorium on most state and local AI regulation, arguing that a patchwork of conflicting laws would hamstring American companies in their competition with China. His

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00:56:58

The Techno-Industrial Policy Playbook: Part II...

The Dynamist ·

2025/07/02

Last week on the Dynamist, we spoke with several of the architects behind the Techno-Industrial Policy Playbook (TIPP). Part I covered key questions over regulation, trade policy, workforce development, investing in frontier science and technology, and how manufacturing can safeguard national security.In Part II, we dive into one of the pillars of TIPP: Industrial Power. Austin Bishop and Julius Krein, co-founders of the New American Industrial Alliance, join Evan to tackle the tough questions

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00:54:50

The Techno-Industrial Policy Playbook w/Robert...

The Dynamist ·

2025/06/24

The U.S. production base has slipped: China passed America in manufacturing output in 2011 and last year ran a surplus roughly equal to Britain’s entire GDP; at current capacity, it would take the United States about eight years to replace key munitions at wartime production rates.The urgency has propelled an alliance of think tanks — the Foundation for American Innovation, American Compass, Institute for Progress, and New American Industrial Alliance — to publish the Techno-Industrial Policy

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142 results

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