Today Dean W. Ball, former White House AI policy advisor joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss his role in crafting the Trump administration's AI Action Plan, his reasons for leaving government, and his perspectives on AI policy, US-China competition, and the future of AI regulation and adoption.

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Today Dean W. Ball, former White House AI policy advisor joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss his role in crafting the Trump administration's AI Action Plan, his reasons for leaving government, and his perspectives on AI policy, US-China competition, and the future of AI regulation and adoption.

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- White House Experience & Government Role: Dean Ball served as senior policy advisor for AI and emerging technology at the White House Office for Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) for four months.
- AI Regulation & Government Approach: Information asymmetry exists between government and AI labs, "Having worked at the White House, I don't know tremendously more about what goes on inside the Frontier Labs than you do."
- Private Sector Innovation: Dean emphasizes the importance of private sector-led initiatives in AI safety and standards.
- Future AI Developments: Dean believes agentic commerce is "right around the corner" but sees little discussion about it from regulatory or conceptual perspectives.
- AI Action Plan Development: It emphasized concrete actions for AI implementation across government agencies rather than just theoretical frameworks.
- Personal Updates: Dean is reviving his weekly Hyperdimensional Substack, joining the Foundation for American Innovation as a senior fellow, and plans to share his long-held insights on recent AI developments.

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CHAPTERS:


CHAPTERS:
(00:00) About the Episode
(05:36) Dean W Ball returns to the Cognitive Revolution
(06:56) How Dean got his role at the White House
(10:20) Navigating bureaucracy and the realities of working in government
(15:26) What to know before taking a policy role
(20:05) Sponsors: Fin | Labelbox
(23:19) How AI is (and isn’t) used in government
(30:19) The impact of government processes on innovation
(37:22) Sponsors: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure | Shopify
(40:27) Personal and professional reasons for moving on
(49:45) The process and philosophy behind the plan
(01:00:54) How different groups on the right view AI
(01:12:05) How the public and politicians are influencing each other
(01:45:47) The three pillars of the action plan and their significance
(02:12:49) Building the infrastructure for AI’s future
(02:26:13) The global race for AI and semiconductor leadership
(03:05:49) How the government views and works with leading AI companies
(03:06:35) Dean’s future plans and advice for the next wave of innovators
(03:15:54) Outro

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