Kara Swisher, renowned tech journalist, podcaster, and author of the New York Times bestseller, “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story,” brought her national book tour to the House at 1229 on March 2 for a Washington AI Network “Haippy Hour” and podcast taping. The event was hosted by General Catalyst advisor Teresa Carlson and Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad.
Haddad led and moderated a conversation with Swisher for the Washington AI Network Podcast, during which she turned the tables and opened the mic for friends and members of the Washington AI Network community, including policy advocates, government officials, and industry leaders to “Ask Kara Anything.”
When asked which tech company she would choose take over, Swisher paused and then answered, “Probably Meta … It’s the most important company … right at this moment. It doesn’t mean it’s going to continue to be, but … they have a lot of impact. News flows over Facebook right now still. Instagram is enormous … I like Threads a lot … although it’s a low bar because Twitter’s gotten to be such a toxic waste dump.”
Of Twitter’s owner, with whom she no longer speaks, she griped: “Why do we care what Elon Musk thinks about cesareans? I had one. F*ck you. Stop talking about it. Stop telling me about big-headed children. Like, get the f*ck off my lawn.”
On the best way to use generative AI, Swisher said, “I use it all the time. I recommend everybody try it because … it’s in a crude form. It’s like the early internet when you used it, it was like, ‘what is it doing?’… You have to figure out what it’s used for”
On how to prevent harm around artificial intelligence, Swisher conceded that “there’s never going to be an information agency.” She pressed that there should be a “cabinet level position” addressing artificial intelligence and its impact on information.
And when asked which actress she’d like to see play her in a biopic, Swisher answered “Holly Hunter.”
Following the program, the host of “On with Kara Swisher” and “Pivot,” greeted guests and autographed copies of her new book, often signing her new tagline, “burn, baby, burn.”
See more photos from the event HERE.
Attendees included CBS News’ Robert Costa, MSNBC’s Symone Sanders, Special Assistant to the President John McCarthy, CTO, U.S. AI Safety Institute Elham Tabassi, Varun Krovi from the Center for AI Safety Action Fund, Sen. Romney’s chief of staff Liz Johnson, Sen Warner’s chief of staff Elizabeth Falcone, Sen. Schatz chief of staff Reema Dodin, James Perry Adams from the Department of Defense, Emily Druckman from Rep. Veasey’s office, Julian Ramirez from the German Embassy, the Post’s Amanda Katz and Cat Zakrzewski, David Adler from Bizbash, Cathay Merrill from the Washingtonian, Cuneyt Dil from Axios, Equal AI CEO and NAIAC Chair Miriam Vogel, co-founders of Silverado Policy Accelerator Dmitri and Maureen Alperovitch, Amazon’s head of public policy Shannon Kellogg, Meta’s David Ginsberg, Monumental Sports’ Michelle Freeman, Helen Milby from GlobalWIN, Maryam Mujica from BookingHoldings, Carol Melton from Adeft Capital, founder of Quell Strategies Machalagh Carr, and Michelle Obama’s communications director Crystal Carson.
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