The Senate has taken its biggest swing yet at regulating social media and how it’s used by children. On Tuesday, lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act. But the legislation has been the subject of a major lobbying campaign, and those advocates from the tech industry, parents’ groups and civil society will now bear down on the House. POLITICO reporter Ruth Reader joins host Steven Overly to explain the latest.

There’s an ongoing debate over powerful AI models: open v. closed. The Biden administration has been grappling for months with where it stands on this issue and, in a report released on Tuesday, came out in support of open models — at least for now. On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly sits down with Assistant Commerce Secretary Alan Davidson, the head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, to discuss the new position and why the government still worries about risks.

It all started with a coconut tree. Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has become a sudden social media phenomenon, generating a flurry of funny videos and sassy tweets. But can Harris meme her way to the White House? On POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly discusses her new online fandom and whether she can get them to the polls with TikTok influencer and political analyst Quentin Jiles.

It’s been 270 days since President Joe Biden signed an executive order on artificial intelligence. That makes today a key deadline for the administration to release recommendations for how to make AI more safe and secure, including new guidelines the Commerce Department put out this morning. On POLITICO Tech, Elizabeth Kelly, the inaugural director of the U.S. AI Safety Institute, joins host Steven Overly to discuss the proposed guidelines and her office’s future.

Last November, Vice President Kamala Harris outlined the Biden administration’s vision for artificial intelligence regulation in a speech at the U.S. embassy in London. But the policy address, delivered on the eve of a major U.K. AI summit, left some British officials feeling upstaged. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Vincent Manancourt revisits the incident in light of Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

The French are planning a major global gathering — and we’re not talking about the Olympics. The AI Action Summit may still be months out, but planning is already well underway. And it’s an opportunity for President Emmanuel Macron’s government to flex its artificial intelligence ambitions. On POLITICO Tech, reporter Mohar Chatterjee sits down with Anne Bouverot, the French AI envoy tasked with organizing the event.

Vice President Kamala Harris has raised a lot of money from Silicon Valley over the years. From her campaigns for California Attorney General and U.S. Senator, to her first run at the White House, she’s been backed by executives from the likes of Google, Microsoft and Apple. Now that Harris is more or less the presumptive Democratic nominee, will tech support her again? Adam Kovacevich, the founder and CEO of the tech industry group Chamber of Progress, is making the case for it. He explains on today’s POLITICO Tech.

Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected as president of the European Commission late last week. But another five years with her at the helm doesn’t necessarily mean more of the same tech policy. On POLITICO Tech, senior tech reporter Clothilde Goujard joins from Brussels to explain von der Leyen’s shifting focus from regulation to European competitiveness, and why it could put the European Union and U.S. on a collision course.

After the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, social media platforms lit up with conspiracies. Speculation about whether it was all a political ploy. Or an inside job. But it wasn’t just happening in the U.S. Emerson Brooking has been tracking Russian propaganda all week as the director of strategy at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. On POLITICO Tech, he joins host Steven Overly to talk about how the Kremlin spun the shooting and what that could mean for Russia’s disinformation playbook between now and Election Day.

The Republican National Convention wraps up tonight and, it turns out, tech wasn’t high up on the GOP’s agenda in Milwaukee. But POLITICO reporter Brendan Bordelon nevertheless tracked down the chatter about social media, TikTok, AI and more. He joins POLITICO Tech from Milwaukee to give us the grist on the ground.

In just over a decade, Republican J.D. Vance has risen from law school graduate to best-selling author to U.S. senator to vice presidential nominee. And fueling the ascent has been tech billionaire Peter Thiel. On POLITICO Tech, Brookings Institution senior fellow Darrell West joins host Steven Overly to explain this fortuitous relationship, and the impact it could have on Election Day and beyond.

Almost immediately after a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally over the weekend, leaving the former president with minor injuries, partisan misinformation and conspiracies flooded social media feeds. Chris Krebs has been tracking the attack and how the internet has responded — from U.S. lawmakers to Russian operatives — for cybersecurity firm SentinelOne. You may recognize Krebs’ name: He was the head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency until Trump fired him in 2020 for refuting claims the election was stolen. On POLITICO Tech, Krebs joins host Steven Overly to talk takeaways from the shooting’s social media aftermath.

The 2024 Republican National Convention is underway in Milwaukee, and we're sure to hear about ways that the GOP plans to dismantle President Joe Biden's legacy on the tech front. On today's POLITICO Tech, Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt joins host Steven Overly to talk about the Inflation Reduction Act money he's leveraged to bring more clean tech manufacturing to his state — and why he wants incentives to continue. Plus, Stitt’s plans to replace state employees with artificial intelligence.

From the Jetsons to Blade Runner, flying cars have long been part of our vision for the future. They’re also closer than ever to becoming a reality. On this two-part episode of POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly explores why this fascination has persisted for over a century, and whether the sky-bound vehicles being built today are all that sci-fi promised they would be. On today's episode, Steven talks with the head of the Federal Aviation Administration — Michael Whitaker — who explains the government’s plan to make these things safe. And after that, Alef Aeronautics CEO Jim Dukhovny who is in the business of convincing people his Model A isn’t just science fiction (and worth the $300,000 price tag).

From the Jetsons to Blade Runner, flying cars have long been part of our vision for the future. They’re also closer than ever to becoming a reality. On this two-part episode of POLITICO Tech, host Steven Overly explores why this fascination has persisted for over a century, and whether the sky-bound vehicles being built today are all that sci-fi promised they would be. Today's show features Jeremy White, WIRED senior innovation editor, and Sheryl Connelly, the former futurist for Ford Motor Company. Tomorrow's episode features Michael Whitaker, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, who actually worked at a flying car company before heading up the FAA, and Jim Dukhovny, the founder and CEO of Alef Aeronatics, who is trying to bring flying cars to the mainstream…for $300,000 a pop.

The Supreme Court dropped a major decision affecting the future of online speech last week. But the ruling was not exactly decisive. And the legal battle isn’t over yet. On POLITICO Tech, Matt Wood from the advocacy group Free Press joins host Steven Overly to break down what comes next in the fight over laws in Texas and Florida that aim to prevent social media platforms from moderating political speech.

The next administration will play a pivotal role in shaping artificial intelligence, but how much would that differ under Joe Biden or Donald Trump? On today’s POLITICO Tech, Dr. Alondra Nelson tackles that question. Nelson served as the head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy before leaving the administration last year and played a central role in shaping Biden’s early AI policy.

The number of Americans dying from an opioid overdose soared during the Covid pandemic. One theory for how to bring those numbers down? Better data. A recent multi-year study from the National Institutes of Health tried to find out if county health departments could make progress against America’s horrifying opioid epidemic if they had much more robust data, with mixed results. On the show today, POLITICO healthcare reporter Ruth Reader talks with Steven Overly about the findings in the NIH study.

Today, host Steven Overly talks with Renée DiResta, a former technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, about her book "Invisible Rulers" on online influencers' power. DiResta's work on political advocates versus profit-driven disinformation spreaders sparked controversy after the 2020 election, leading to Stanford dismantling its Internet Observatory and raising concerns about disinformation research ahead of the 2024 election.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration in Missouri v. Biden, a case about government influence on social media content moderation. Guest host Rebecca Kern called Alex Abdo at the Knight First Amendment Institute to discuss the court's 6-3 decision and its potential implications for online speech as we approach the 2024 election.

Eurasia Group games out political risk. And when it comes to tech, Vice Chair Gerald Butts sees a lot of them. A former adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Butts joins POLITICO Tech to talk about the global competition around AI and tech tensions between the U.S. and Canada.

Nvidia has rapidly become one of the world’s most valuable companies, propelled by the global rush to develop artificial intelligence. But the company’s success was not actually all that sudden — and it’s not guaranteed to last. On POLITICO Tech, market analyst Dylan Patel of SemiAnalysis joins host Steven Overly to break down Nvidia’s humble start and the potential challenges ahead, from competition to regulation.

Los Angeles will soon ban cell phones and social media in schools, becoming the latest school district to crack down on tech in the classroom. California at large could be next. On POLITICO Tech, Stanford professor and former schoolteacher Antero Garcia joins host Steven Overly to explain why he thinks such bans are bad policy — and bound to fail.

Children’s advocates often compare social media to cigarettes, arguing platforms like YouTube and TikTok are addictive and harmful. That’s led to an increasing number of states passing laws aimed at curtailing their influence on young users. On Thursday, New York became the latest. But signing the law doesn’t actually make it a done deal. POLITICO tech reporter Rebecca Kern joins host Steven Overly to break down the latest.

Artificial intelligence consumes a lot of energy. Exactly how much is hard to say, because AI companies keep much of that information hidden – a practice that some policymakers and activists are trying to change. On today's episode of Politico Tech, Steven Overly called up Jesse Dodge to better understand the energy and climate cost behind generative AI. Dodge is a senior research scientist at the Allen Institute for AI in Seattle, who not only develops large language models, he also studies their electricity usage and CO2 emissions.