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The AI Power Podcast

The AI Power Podcast

Gregory C. Allen 1 Episodes Oct 9, 2026

The AI Power Podcast, hosted by Gregory C. Allen, provides weekly insights into AI policy, regulation, safety, economic policy, US-China competition, semiconductor export controls, and national security. It features interviews with policymakers, builders, executives, and analysts shaping artificial intelligence and global power dynamics. The podcast aims to explain complex developments in plain English for those working in or fascinated by AI policy.

Episodes

Who Checks the AI Labs? Independent Verification with Andrew Freedman
Who Checks the AI Labs? Independent Verification with Andrew Freedman Oct 9, 2026 3700 Andrew Freedman, Co-Founder and CEO of Fathom, returns a year after his last conversation with Gregory C. Allen to explain how independent verification organizations (IVOs) went from Fathom's niche AI policy idea to governing law in two states. They start with Fathom’s published polling on U.S. public opinion on AI and how things have changed since the OpenAI Hugging Face incident. They cover
Trump's new AI czar + Nvidia exec caught smuggling chips to China
Trump's new AI czar + Nvidia exec caught smuggling chips to China Oct 6, 2026 3794 Gregory Allen and Adam Goodwin break down recent AI policy updates out of the White House – the appointment of Jay Clayton as the new AI czar, and the assembly of a new “Super Intelligence Task Force.” They discuss how the task force’s makeup and the administration’s policy evolution has shifted, but is still hesitant to embrace the kinds of AI safety frontier labs are calling for. Then, Greg and
China reaches Mythos-tier Cyber AI + White House AI Accord + Trump/Xi Debrief
China reaches Mythos-tier Cyber AI + White House AI Accord + Trump/Xi Debrief Sep 30, 2026 3605 Gregory Allen and Jack Conlin recap the modest outcomes of the U.S.–China AI Summit and Trump’s UN General Assembly speech. Then, the White House has secured a voluntary AI safety accord from leading U.S. tech companies committing to a “morally binding” framework called the White House Accord on Super Intelligence. Greg also breaks down Anthropic and the U.S.’ CAISI reports that Z.ai's openly
Previewing U.S.-China (Trump/Xi) Summit for AI
Previewing U.S.-China (Trump/Xi) Summit for AI Sep 22, 2026 4993 Greg Allen and Jack Conlin preview the upcoming summit between the United States and China and the role AI will play in the meeting. They outline how China enters the summit maintaining access to U.S. compute, pushing for domestic alternatives to U.S. and allied chips and semiconductor equipment, spreading its AI models globally, and continuing to engage in distillation. Then, they go over U.S. in
Emergency Pod! An AI Safety Tipping Point? Amodei calls for an AI slowdown
Emergency Pod! An AI Safety Tipping Point? Amodei calls for an AI slowdown Sep 14, 2026 4726 Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has asked the AI industry to slow itself down, saying it should “pace the frontier” of AI development. His September 12th essay, laid bare the current level of AI risk in the wake of OpenAI/HuggingFace and the capabilities of recursive self-improvement, and he lays out a plan for what can be done within companies, within industry, and within governments. Gregory Allen an
GPT-6 Astra - WOW, OpenAI = pro regulation, Trump admin warms to AI safety
GPT-6 Astra - WOW, OpenAI = pro regulation, Trump admin warms to AI safety Sep 11, 2026 3750 OpenAI shipped GPT-6 Astra and called it the world's most intelligent and most aligned model. With Adam Goodwin away, producer Jack Conlin steps in to ask Greg what the release actually shows: a 99.9% score on ARC-AGI-3 against 17.8% for GPT-5.6 Sol, a jump from 30.3% to 42.4% on ExploitGym and from 78.5% to 100% on ExploitBench, and a model that went beyond its authorized target in 0% of tes
OpenAI hack changes state AI regulation debate + Chinese AI running on Chinese chips?
OpenAI hack changes state AI regulation debate + Chinese AI running on Chinese chips? Aug 28, 2026 2890 OpenAI and third-party research firm METR both released detailed reports about July’s HuggingFace incident that detail aggregated agentic behavior and coordinated group action among the 700 agents that were involved. OpenAI has consequently called for collective industry and governmental action to promote cyber defense, and encouraged California to update its AI regulation (SB 53). Greg and Adam d
AI's Impact on Education with Casey Cuny - 2024 Cal Teacher of the Year
AI's Impact on Education with Casey Cuny - 2024 Cal Teacher of the Year Aug 26, 2026 3737 Greg sits down with Casey Cuny, California’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. The English teacher and self-described AI power user lays out his teaching philosophy, the challenges facing today’s students, and how AI fits in. Greg and Casey also discuss AI adoption as a technological tool, Casey’s creation of an AI app for teachers, and how with homework, "if it goes home, it will be AI'd."
OpenAI slows training, Taiwan gets AI-hacked, toxic data center politics
OpenAI slows training, Taiwan gets AI-hacked, toxic data center politics Aug 22, 2026 3228 OpenAI pauses its own training (00:10 – 21:38) Labs have delayed releasing models before; OpenAI's August 17 post is the first time one slowed down building one — a two-week pause on RL training, its largest frontier run on hold.An autonomous AI attack on Taiwan's nuclear safety agency (21:38 – 26:03) Israeli firm Dream's August 12 report — four days, 1,395 files, 85 cracked credent
Is China Entering the Global Memory Supply Chain?
Is China Entering the Global Memory Supply Chain? Aug 11, 2026 2180 Chinese memory maker CXMT is on track for roughly 10% of the global DRAM market, and HP, Asus, and Acer have reportedly begun shipping notebooks built with its chips. Adam Goodwin and Greg explain why memory behaves like a commodity, why bit density determines both performance and cost, and how a three-firm market led by Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron ended up short on supply. They trace CXMT'
MORE AI Cyber and Bio, Chinese Models, and a U.S. Regulatory Scramble
MORE AI Cyber and Bio, Chinese Models, and a U.S. Regulatory Scramble Aug 7, 2026 4535 AI Risks in Cyber and Bio, Chinese Models, and US FrameworkThree frontier labs have now disclosed that their models broke out of evaluation environments and hacked real companies. Greg and co-host Adam Goodwin work through what OpenAI revealed at Black Hat — agents leaving notes for each other for months, describing themselves as a "collective," rebuilding their message board after safet
China's homegrown DUV lithography breakthrough and the debate over banning China's open-source AI
China's homegrown DUV lithography breakthrough and the debate over banning China's open-source AI Jul 30, 2026 3393 Two big stories this week. First, a bombshell report from The Information claims a Shanghai company has begun manufacturing immersion DUV lithography machines — the equipment China has spent two decades trying to build for itself. Greg and co-host Adam Goodwin unpack what "immersion DUV" is, why five machines this year is both respectable and decades behind ASML, and the buried detail th

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