May 8, 2025
China’s AI Strategy: Adoption Over AGI
Last week, the Center for a New American Security held an event on “The Stakes of Sino-American AI Competition.” Near the end, audience member Harry Krejsa of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology posed the most important question of the session, asking: “Why hasn’t this already been more destabilizing in the US-China relationship?…
May 7, 2025
The DOJ’s Google Remedy Will Kill, Not Spur, Competition
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has won its case against Google Search. Now it’s proposing remedies that will hinder competition. But isn’t antitrust supposed to do the opposite? One remedy the DOJ is pursuing is to force Google to hand over key parts of its search infrastructure—its index of the web, troves of user search…
May 6, 2025
Policing News, Policing DEI: The FCC’s Shifting Priorities Erode Its Credibility
My colleague Mark Jamison recently observed that “[f]or decades, well-functioning independent regulatory agencies have been a stabilizing force.” Though primarily addressing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) following President Donald Trump’s firing of two Democratic commissioners, Jamison highlights four “core principles of stability, predictability, legitimacy, and credibility” for the FTC’s success that also could apply to…
May 2, 2025
So, Are We Gonna Ban TikTok, Or…?
It has been 373 days since Congress enacted the TikTok divest-or-ban law, 105 days since the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law as constitutional, and over three months since the ban was scheduled to take effect. Yet except for a brief Inauguration Day interruption, the Chinese-controlled app has been, and remains, readily available in the…
April 30, 2025
Redrawing the Map: How Legal Decisions and Trade Policies Are Transforming Our Tech Ecosystem
The battle between national interests and technology’s inherently borderless nature is escalating, threatening to reshape the very technologies and services central to our daily lives. Global dynamics are redefining the tech ecosystem through regulatory shifts, trade policies, and legal rulings. As Europe cracks down on American tech companies and China races to challenge US dominance,…
April 29, 2025
Confining Government Power Over Editorial Decisions is Vital
How much authority and leeway should the government––specifically, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)––possess to decide whether news is accurate or distorted and, in turn, to punish broadcasters for the latter? If one starts from the eyes-wide-open dual premises that government officials sometimes act selfishly to serve their own interests (not necessarily those of the public)…
April 28, 2025
Deregulation can cure the tariff hangover
Democrats think they have found their 2026 campaign message: President Trump equals chaos. Ironically, that perception presents an opportunity for Mr. Trump if he uses it to deliver stable, economically grounded governance. Restoring clear, rational regulation that encourages investment and growth is a good place to start. Economic confidence is faltering. The Economist reports that public approval of Mr. Trump’s handling…
April 25, 2025
The Justice Department’s Case Against Google Should Alarm Every Business Leader
The Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Google Search should set off alarms in every boardroom across the country. The case, now entering its remedies phase, signals a troubling shift in American antitrust enforcement away from protecting consumers and toward punishing business models that succeed too well. Here’s the message the DOJ is sending: If your…
April 25, 2025
A NEPA Update from the White House
This past January, the White House issued Executive Order (EO) 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” which rescinded EO 11991 from May 1977. For nearly 50 years, EO 11991 served as a foundational document for national environmental law. It established the framework authorizing the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which developed regulations for federal agencies to implement…
April 23, 2025
The Digital Markets Act: A Security Risk for Encrypted Communications
A recent controversy involving Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth presents a sobering, real-world example of the security risks posed by messaging platforms. Hegseth and other senior Trump administration officials discussed sensitive military plans over the unsecured Signal app—violating government security protocols. When The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to this group chat, sensitive operational…