Philip Athey

For years the debate around artificial intelligence has been dominated by two extremes: the “doomers” who fear that unfettered advancement of the technology will lead to a catastrophic robot apocalypse, and the accelerationists, who argue that AI will ultimately unlock a utopian future, so it must be developed at all costs. Governments have attempted to walk a tightrope between the two groups, supporting technological advancements while putting up guardrails in the hopes of curtailing the threa

In the nearly three weeks since Donald Trump was sworn in as president, Elon Musk and a small cohort of young loyalists have torn through the D.C. bureaucracy blindly and possibly illegally, blocking federal spending and pushing out anyone who stands in their way.  Thomas Shedd, a former Tesla engineer who was recently made director of Technology Transformation Services at the General Services Administration, told staffers that he wants to transform the agency into the image of a Silicon Valley

In his farewell address to the nation, former President Biden warned about the rising political power of the country’s wealthiest tech executives. Five days later, many of the “oligarchs” he warned the nation about were seated in the front row as President Trump was sworn into office.  The two events mark a sea change in Silicon Valley’s relationship with Washington, which may have profound effects on the future of both AI policy and the nation.  For years, Silicon Valley leaders have had a co

The first fight between Elon Musk and MAGA ended in an apparent victory for the world’s richest man when President-elect Donald Trump sided with him on the H-1B visa program. The program, which grants highly skilled immigrants the right to work in the U.S., came under fire when Trump named Indian-American Sriram Krishnan as his senior advisor on artificial intelligence. Krishnan has been a staple of the U.S. tech industry since he immigrated to the U.S. in 2007 to work for Microsoft. Since the