The Washington AI Network hosted a cocktails and conversation event on August 1 featuring special guest Rob Silvers, the under secretary for policy at the Deparment of Homeland Security. 

Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad conducted a wide ranging interview with Silvers, which was recorded as an episode of the Washington AI Network podcast. The under secretary addressed how conflicts in the Middle East impact domestic security efforts, the power and fragility of the nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure, China’s standing in the global AI race, and how DHS deploys AI, including at the border to stop fentanyl.  

Silvers, who also serves as chair of the Cyber Safety Review Board, praised Microsoft’s response to the recent Crowdstrike outage, calling it “fantastic,” yet said the entire incident was “a very stark reminder of both the power of our internet infrastructure and technology and how much it does for us.”

On increased domestic threats due to the conflict in the Middle East, Silvers said: “We are very conscious that we’re in a heightened threat environment …  and we are pouring unprecedented levels of resources into our communities, into ensuring that the American people are safe.”

On competition with China, Silvers said: “When it comes to AI … I’m happy to say that at this moment, I think the United States is ahead of China. But it’s not a foregone conclusion that we always will be.”

On combating the Chinese government’s human rights abuses of the Uyghurs, Silvers said DHS “is on the front lines of making sure that products made with forced labor by Uyghurs in Xinjiang province are not allowed to come into this country so that China cannot profit from that.”

“Our enforcement has been so strong that we are seeing supply chains start to shift,” he continued. “We are seeing companies, big U.S. retailers and importers start to do really deep diligence into who they are buying from and … it is changing trade for the benefit of human rights.”

And on the use of AI at the border, Silvers said:  “We are using machine learning models now that can analyze factors, including a vehicle’s travel history to look for anomalies, to look for things that seem suspicious.” Silvers said the new tools recently led border patrol officers to stop a vehicle containing 75 kilos of narcotics.

Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad and Teresa Carlson, General Catalyst Advisor, hosted a presidential debate watch party at the House at 1229 on June 27th. The exclusive gathering brought together a diverse array of Washington D.C.’s most influential figures including politicians, diplomats, policy experts and media personalities.  Notable government officials included United States Rep. Debbie Dingell, French Ambassador to the United States Laurent Bili and Irish Ambassador to the United States Geraldine Byrne Nason.

The evening began with a cocktail reception, allowing guests to interact and share their perspectives on the key issues at stake. As the history making debate commenced, attendees took to their seats in front of an oversized screen and watched in anticipation as this historic and pivotal moment in American politics unfolded

Also in attendance were Speaker Johnson’s general counsel Ashley Callen; General Catalyst’s Maryam Mujica; The Washington Post’s Amanda Katz and Kathy O’Hearn; American actress/singer Lynda Carter; Amazon’s Steve Hartell, Shannon Kellogg, Jennifer Prescott, and Olivia Igbokwe; Lara Tennyson from Booking Holdings; Miriam Vogel, NAIAC chair and CEO of EqualAI; Helen Toner, Director of Strategy and Foundational Research Grants at CSET; Amy Sennett, Senior Vice President at Karat; Troy Perry, Director of Policy & Advocacy at Omydiar Network; Victoria Espinel, CEO of BSA; Sydney Harvey, Advisor for Public Engagement at The White House; and Pascal Confavareux from the French Embassy.

FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2024

Tammy Haddad and the Washington AI Network hosted special guest David Ignatius for a Washington AI Network “Haippy Hour” on Friday, June 7th with an audience that included Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, her husband, Danylo Volynets, and former California Congresswoman Jane Harman. The event kicked off with Haddad interviewing David Ignatius, the renowned Washington Post columnist and bestselling novelist. Ignatius’s new spy thriller,  Phantom Orbit, details how wars have moved to space using technology like satellites and drones. The backdrop of the novel is the war in Ukraine, which Ignatius calls “the first space war.”

The novel also depicts how the relationship between the rapid progression of technologies and global tensions that are consistently developing, can cause various prospective outcomes.  

Guests included:

Government officials Nicoletta Giordani, acting principal director of the Office of Global Investment and Economic Security at the Department of Defense, Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Justin Fanelli, CTO of the Department of the Navy. 

Also in attendance were Congressional staff AI leaders in Congress; Jon Cardinal, Ali Biasotti, Tim Ryder, and Corry Schiermeyer, as well as tech executives, Steve Hartell from Amazon, Jackie Rooney from Meta, and Govind Shivkumar from Omidyar Network.

Victoria Virasingh from Noble Reach Foundation and Monica Holt from the Kennedy Center, Invariant CEO Heather Podesta, and Dimitri Alperovitch and Maureen Hinman from Silverado were also all at the event.

The audience was invited to“Ask David anything” hearing his latest reporting on Gaza, Ukraine and other host spots around the world. The event concluded with a book signing by David Ignatius.  

In a special fireside interview at the Special Competitive Studies Project’s AI Expo for National Competitiveness, Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad interviewed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer about AI legislation, election concerns, and the global AI race.

Following an introduction from SCSP President & CEO Ylli Bajraktari in front of a standing-room-only audience, Haddad took the stage with Sen. Schumer, who started the conversation by noting how the Washington AI Network is “helping make sure everyone has a seat at the table as we address the challenges and the opportunities of AI.”

Sen. Schumer then made clear that it’s “one of [his] highest priorities to make sure that Congress is ready to do its part to keep and advance America as the global leader in AI”:

Sen. Schumer laid out his plans to release a roadmap for addressing the risks and benefits of AI in the coming weeks, with committees then “translating that, concretizing that into legislation.”

Regarding the global AI race, Sen. Schumer also called out competition with China – saying that “If we don’t do anything, China could get ahead of us … They’re spending much more money right now on investing in science and AI than we are now, make no mistake about it.”

Watch the full conversation below:

Kicking off the 2024 AI Expo in Washington, D.C. to a captive, standing-room only crowd, the Washington AI Network’s Tammy Haddad hosted the Washington Post columnist and best-selling author David Ignatius. As the first guest of the Special Competitive Studies Project’s AI Expo for National Competitiveness, Haddad began the conversation by asking Ignatius to analyze the potential hostage deal in Gaza. David warns that conflict in the Middle East often leads to “neither victory nor vanquished” but that this time it’s different. “All Israelis want to vanquish Hamas from running Gaza and won’t settle for anything less.”

Ignatius discussed the challenges FBI Director Chris Wray is facing with the emergence of ISIS-K. He quoted Wray about his concerns from “unknown unknowns” as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used to say.  

Ignatius’s latest novel, Phantom Orbit, is a spy thriller set against the backdrop of the new space weapons race, part of which is playing out in Ukraine today. The novel explores the rising tensions between the US, China, and Russia in the context of space exploration. 

Guests were among the 13,000 attendees at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center as companies like Palantir, Google, Microsoft and U.S. Government agencies like DARPA and the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Guests were given a copy of Ignatius’s new novel, his 12th.