Podcasts · The Lawfare Podcast

Lawfare Daily: Vinh Nguyen, Elham Tabassi, and Kat Duffy on How to Design a Better AI Regulator

18 Aug 2026 · 41 min

Lawfare Senior Editor Kate Klonick is joined by three guests to discuss their recent article for the Council on Foreign Relations on the FINRA-style AI regulator reportedly under White House review: Vinh Nguyen, former chief AI officer at the National Security Agency and now CFR’s Senior Fellow for Artificial Intelligence; Elham Tabassi, former chief AI advisor at NIST and now director of Brookings’ AI and Emerging Technology Initiative; and Kat Duffy, CFR’s Senior Fellow for Digital and Cyberspace Policy and director of LEAD AI.

The conversation follows recent news of Demis Hassabis’s July 14 framework calling for a U.S.-led Frontier AI Standards Body and a subsequent Bloomberg report that Treasury Secretary Bessent is involved in reviewing a version of the proposal. They discuss the problems but benefits with a FINRA-like model and what that means for public trust before the body even launches, especially for allies abroad who may be reluctant to treat an American, industry-funded body as an international standard-setter.

To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links in the notes 5

• https://www.cfr.org/articles/the-u-s-is-about-to-design-an-ai-regulator-heres-how-to-get-it-right
• https://demishassabis.substack.com/p/a-framework-for-frontier-ai-and-the-dawning-of-a-new-age
• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-17/us-considers-creating-finra-like-watchdog-to-vet-top-ai-models
• https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute
• https://acast.com/privacy

The episode on the publisher’s site ↗ (opens in a new tab)