Senator Marsha Blackburn on AI, Online Safety, and Data Privacy
Hudson’s Center for the Economics of the Internet will welcome Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to speak about pressing digital safety issues facing Congress. With Senior Fellow Harold Furchtgott-Roth, she will discuss artificial intelligence and protecting creators, the Kids Online Safety Act, the Open App Markets Act, and comprehensive data privacy.
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32:11
Politics, Loyalty, and Survival: A Conversation with Salena Zito
Journalist and author Salena Zito will join Hudson Senior Fellow Paul Sracic to discuss her new book Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland. Zito’s work offers insight into the communities and cultural forces driving American politics during President Donald Trump’s campaign for reelection and in the wake of the assassination attempt at his Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting, she explores the values, frustrations, and loyalties shaping the nation’s political realignment.
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1:01:40
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1:01:40
Countering Communist Cyborgs: China’s Dystopian AI Ambitions and the Robotics Race
Artificial intelligence is widely recognized as this century’s critical technology. The nation that leads in AI computational power, innovation, and diffusion will determine the primary application of the technology—either in defense of freedom and individual liberty or in service of autocracy and tyranny. As the United States and the Chinese Communist Party compete to dominate AI, robotics is also emerging as a field of critical strategic value. From automated manufacturing to self-driving cars to humanoid robots, embodied AI could unlock economic growth and alleviate demographic shortages. But it could also be used for military applications and political repression. US policymakers should take steps to blunt China’s advances and boost America’s competitiveness to lead the world in developing next-generation robotics.Senior Fellow Michael Sobolik will host an event to introduce his new Hudson policy memo featuring recommendations for the Trump administration and Capitol Hill to help secure America’s innovation advantage.
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1:09:29
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1:09:29
The Iranian Regime Under Pressure: What’s Next?
Operation Midnight Hammer, the United States’ recent strike against Iranian nuclear infrastructure, and Israel’s Operation Rising Lion, which dismantled Iran’s covert infrastructure and paved the way for the US attack, have forced the Islamic Republic into a new phase of strategic decision-making.Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei now faces difficult choices. He needs to weigh Iran’s long-term ambitions for regional power against the risks of deeper military escalation and the threat of growing unrest inside the country. His regime is under pressure to project strength abroad while containing dissent at home.What is Khamenei’s calculus after these strikes? And where does Iran go from here?Join Zineb Riboua, research fellow and program manager at Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, for a conversation with Mariam Memarsadeghi, senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and Dr. Ladan Boroumand, cofounder of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights. They will examine Iran’s internal power struggles, the future of its resistance movement, and the potential consequences Khamenei’s next moves will have for the region.
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Drone Warfare and Securing America’s Military Against Emerging Threats with Senator John Boozman
In Operation Spiderweb, Ukrainian forces smuggled drones deep into Russia and used them to attack grounded aircraft. This tested a fundamental assumption about warfare: that physical distance from the frontline can guarantee safety from enemy strikes. Asymmetric warfare, waged with capabilities such as long-range drones, can change the strategic fundamentals of a conflict at relatively low human and material cost. American military planners now face the urgent question of how to secure installations and bases, both in the United States homeland and abroad, against this new threat.Join Senator John Boozman (R-AR), chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, for a conversation with Senior Fellow Timothy A. Walton and Center for a New American Security Senior Fellow Thomas Shugart on how to mitigate these risks and accelerate the fielding of forces and infrastructure that retain US advantage.Senator Boozman will take audience questions. Breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m., and the event will start at 9:00 a.m.
Founded in 1961 by strategist Herman Kahn, Hudson Institute challenges conventional thinking and helps manage strategic transitions through interdisciplinary studies in defense, international relations, economics, energy, technology, culture, and law.
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