US v China... The AI race
We speak to a US/China tech expert who served under presidents Biden and Trump about America’s race with China to develop Artificial Intelligence. Does he agree with president Trump’s statement “whoever wins AI wins”, and what does “winning” look like?
Justin, Marianna and Anthony discuss Donald Trump’s rejection of any regulation for Artificial Intelligence, and whether this is in line with public opinion in the United States.The team also talk about Congress, and how Republicans are reacting to Donald Trump’s most outspoken comments yet on AI. Plus, could Democrats be making the issue more central to their campaigning ahead of this November’s midterm elections? It’s an issue which has also united progressive Democrat senator Bernie Sanders and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon - what was their message to voters?
Our guest this week is Chris McGuire, a US-China technology expert with the Council on Foreign Relations. He’s a former senior advisor at the State Department for Trump in both his first and second terms, and previously served as Deputy Senior Director for Technology and National Security at the National Security Council from 2022 to 2024 under president Biden.
HOSTS:• Marianna Spring, BBC Social Media Investigations Correspondent • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
GUEST: Chris McGuire, US-China technology expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, former senior advisor at the State Department for President Trump. Former Deputy Senior Director for Technology and National Security at the National Security Council from 2022 to 2024.
GET IN TOUCH:• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480• Email [email protected]• Or use #Americast
This episode was made by Emma Close with George Dabby, Josh McMinn and Nik Sindle. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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Americast
Insight and analysis on what's happening inside Donald Trump's White House. Americast is the authoritative US news and politics podcast from the BBC. Each week we provide audiences with the best analysis from across the BBC, with on-the-ground observations and big picture insights about the stories which are defining America right now. The podcast is hosted by trusted BBC journalists including the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, BBC Radio 4 presenter, Justin Webb, the BBC’s social media investigation correspondent, Marianna Spring, and BBC North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. As well as political analysis, we also specialise in social media. Each week Marianna Spring brings listeners the latest updates from the BBC’s Undercover Voters, our award-winning investigation into the content that is recommended to US voters on social media. The team is also joined by special guests each week, like CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour, Emmy Award-winning TV host, Rachel Maddow, and Succession actress, J Smith-Cameron. Podcasts are published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As well as being a podcast, we are also available every Friday on BBC Radio 4 and every Saturday on the BBC World Service. Oh, and you can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say ‘”Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. Every Monday we answer your questions on Americanswers, with some help from our friends, including BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with us on email at [email protected] or WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.
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