Is Washington Up to the Challenge of A.I.?

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

The New Yorker

Washington, News, Politics, President, Wickenden, Wnyc, Barack, Obama, Lizza

4.3 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2026

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Washington Roundtable discusses the growing political backlash to artificial intelligence, especially among young Americans, and asks whether Washington, D.C., is capable of regulating A.I. companies. They’re joined by Nate Soares, the executive director of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute and co-author of the book “If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies.” The group explores what was behind the White House’s sudden reversal on an A.I.-safety executive order this week, the outsized influence of venture capitalists in the A.I. industry, and how A.I. may turbocharge the next populist movement in American politics. “My impression is that a lot of the people protesting data centers can sort of tell that this A.I. stuff is taking the world somewhere they don’t want,” Soares says. “They can tell that there’s this big corporate race that will either kill them or make them a permanent underclass.”

See the Washington Roundtable live at 92NY on June 4th.

This week’s reading:

“Can Hakeem Jeffries Lead a Democratic Takeover of the House?,” by Jason Zengerle
“Sam Altman Won in Court Against Elon Musk. But, Really, We All Lost,” by Gideon Lewis-Kraus
“Can the Democrats Take Back the Senate?,” by Amy Davdison Sorkin
“What Thomas Massie’s Race Says About Trump’s Influence,” by Jon Allsop
“Clarence Thomas Against Progressivism—and Progressives,” by Ruth Marcus
“A Republican Bloodbath in the Texas Senate Primary Is Giving Democrats Hope,” by Rachel Monroe

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, it's David Remnick, and I've got some news for you.
0:03.8	We're headed to the Tribeca Festival for a special live taping of the New Yorker Radio Hour.
0:09.4	We'll be doing a one-night-only show at the festival's 25th anniversary.
0:14.0	So come out and join us on Wednesday, June 10th at 815.
0:18.7	Tickets are available now at Tribecafilm.com slash audio.
0:23.2	That's Tribecafilm.com slash audio.
0:29.8	Amelia Island, Florida, invites you to breathe a little deeper and enjoy the luxury of letting go.
0:37.0	Discover the tranquil seaside getaway
0:39.4	embraced by salt air, sunshine, and authentic southern charm. Find your unwind at amelia
0:47.0	island.com. Are we detecting briefly, temporarily, the presence of a spine in the United States Senate in the form of Republican resistance to...
1:00.0	And maybe...
1:01.0	Irrational exuberance, man.
1:03.0	I think maybe more of like that there was a sort of a reflexive gag that took place for a few seconds among Republicans in Congress, even they couldn't
1:13.4	swallow the whole thing. Yes, this week when faced with a bunch of Republican senators
1:18.5	are saying, absolutely not, I will throw up on you. They said Donald Trump's proposal
1:23.6	for a $1.8 billion, and I'm not going to use his insane language to characterize it,
1:29.5	but $1.8 billion for a slush fund to pay out to people that he believes are aggrieved and wronged
1:37.2	as he has been from the government. In addition to granting himself what appears to be
1:42.9	permanent immunity from ever having to face any
1:46.7	accountability if he doesn't file another tax bill again in his life. How can this possibly be
1:53.4	legal? Oh, it's so profoundly not legal. But I have to say I am pretty wowed by the ingenuity of the machinations here.
2:07.4	Who thinks of a deal for themselves like this? I mean, it's a level beyond. Well, I mean, the old line is, you know, that he's going to keep pushing and pushing and pushing until he hits bone.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 14 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The New Yorker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The New Yorker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.