TechTank

Congress has not passed many bills on the emerging digital economy. But that does not mean nothing is happening policy-wise. At the state level, there were 238 new pieces of regulatory legislation, according to a new report from New York University. That is a 163 percent increase over 2023. New laws cover AI, non-consensual sexual imagery, political deepfakes, and copyright protection, among other topics. Joining us today is one of the authors of that report. Scott Brennen is the director of the NYU Center on Technology Policy. Darrell M. West and he will discuss why state lawmaking has accelerated and areas such as AI, non-consensual sexual imagery, political deepfakes, and copyright protection where bills have passed. They also will consider the state outlook for 2025.

The digital world has become a dangerous place. We have seen foreign entities burrow intotelecom networks and extract highly confidential information. There have been hacks of vitalinfrastructure, ransomware attacks, and thefts of sensitive data bases. The Biden Administration sought to deal with emerging threats by defending criticalinfrastructure, disrupting threat actors, use market forces to improve security, and forginginternational partnerships.What remains to be seen, though, is how many of these initiatives will be maintained by the newTrump Administration. How the new president handles cybersecurity is an important topicbecause a CyberNews study recently found 65 percent of American companies scored a D orworse on cybersecurity and only 7 percent earned an A. It is clear that we all need to do a betterjob on protecting our digital assets.To help us understand these issues, Brookings colleagues Stephanie Pell and Darrell M. Westways to safeguard critical infrastructure, disrupt threat actors, and use market forces to improvesecurity and the manner in which Trump may move on cybersecurity.

 In this episode of the TechTank Podcast, Cohost Darrell West and Nicol Turner Lee sit down to discuss what to expect in the coming years in regard to AI, antitrust enforcement, the digital divide, China, cryptocurrency, and disinformation and what people should watch from Capitol Hill and the administration. 

In this episode of the TechTank podcast guest host Xavier Freeman-Edwards is joined by Barry Rabe, Nonresident Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and professor at the University of Michigan to discuss if the 2024 election will bring more attention to climate change.

On this episode of the TechTank Podcast co-host, Nicol Turner Lee, shares her new paper on this topic with Mary K. Engle Executive Vice President, Policy at BBB National Programs, and David Vladeck, the A.B. Chettle Chair in Civil Procedure and former Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. They discuss the path forward for social media regulation and unpack the issues that are of main focus to teens and adults on the internet.

This week on the TechTank Podcast, Darrell West talks with Zia Qureshi a Brookings Institution Senior Fellow in Global Economy and Development about how cutting-edge tech like AI, quantum computing, and cloud storage are shaping inequality. They dive into whether these innovations will widen the gap between those with access to tech and those without, and what we can do to make sure technology benefits everyone.

This week on The TechTank Podcast, Nicol Turner Lee and Darrell West explore how the Vice President candidate's tech policy stances might influence the campaigns and the election, and whether they will ultimately shape the future of technology in the United States.

This week on the TechTank podcast, co-host Nicol Turner Lee is joined by her colleagues, co-host Darrell West, and Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Founding Director of the Center for Effective Public Management. Together, they will discuss the impact of disinformation on society and explore solutions presented in the new book authored by Darrell and Elaine titled Lies That Kill: A Citizen's Guide to Disinformation.