ChinaTalk

Mike Horowitz, a Penn political science professor and former DoD policy official who authored DoD Directive 3000.09, explains modern autonomy in weapons. He debunks misconceptions about existing systems and discusses ML-powered targeting, jamming-driven autonomy in Ukraine, the Anthropic–DoD dispute, legal limits on human control, testing challenges, and risks from automation bias and strategic overreliance.

Henry Farrell, a political scientist on tech and geopolitics; Bryan Clark, a retired Navy officer and naval warfare analyst; Michael Horowitz, a defense policy scholar who rewrote Pentagon autonomy rules; and Emmy Probasco, a CSET fellow and former Navy officer on military AI. They discuss the U.S. use of low-cost drones in precise mass strikes. They debate regime decapitation risks, air-defense strain and stockpile depletion, and how large language models like Claude are being integrated into military systems.

A wide-ranging take on tensions between a leading AI lab and the Pentagon, including political positioning and contracting culture. Debate over whether large language models belong in lethal systems and how DoD doctrine treats AI. Discussion of export controls, supply-chain risks, and the danger of chilling defense tech investment. Ends with lighter news and concerns about defense leadership and geopolitical risks.

Lawrence Freedman, a leading strategic studies scholar and author, joins to discuss landmark military puzzles. He examines the Falklands as a lesson in island defense and timing. He traces how nuclear war became unthinkable and weighs parallels between Putin, Xi, Ukraine, and Taiwan. He also reflects on strategy history, writing, and how leaders make messy decisions under pressure.

Peter Harrell, attorney and former Obama and Biden administration official specializing in trade and national security, offers legal analysis of the Supreme Court ruling that limits presidential tariff authority. Short takes cover the decision's legal reasoning, potential refund litigation over billions collected, contrasts between Sections 122 and 301, and the international and political fallout for US trade policy.

Eric Slesinger, a Madrid-based early-stage investor in European defense tech and former U.S. intelligence official, shares Munich takeaways and the rising role of defense-focused startups. He contrasts U.S. tech-first culture with Europe’s defense-first approach. Topics include European procurement, cybersecurity risks to startups, Ukrainian battlefield innovation, AI and sovereign LLM gaps, and who might adopt autonomy first.

Mike Schmidt, former CHIPS Program Office director who ran CHIPS implementation, and Todd Fisher, its founding CIO who managed deal-making and finance, discuss how the US rebuilt chip manufacturing. They explain which policy tools mattered and how teams, sequencing, and diplomacy made it work. Conversation covers industrial policy design, translating term sheets into awards, and building repeatable institutions.

Aaron Kesselheim, Harvard physician and FDA policy expert, and Hamilton Morris, science journalist and chemist, dive into the world of Chinese peptides. They explore undercover sourcing, gray-market chemistry, regulatory gaps, industrial manufacturing in China, biohacking trends like BPC-157, and the tangled debate over enforcement versus access.

Emmett Penney, FAI researcher on technology and governance, and Charles Yang, founder of the Center for Industrial Strategy and AI policy analyst, trace Hyman Rickover’s improbable rise and lasting institutional impact. They discuss his immigrant origin, naval engineering path, ruthless leadership and talent rituals, how he built naval nuclear power, and why his model matters for modern industrial policy and tech governance.

Daniel Camilo, a Portuguese expert with 10+ years in China’s game industry, walks through major trends. He talks about China’s rise to AAA, Genshin Impact’s live-service influence, Black Myth: Wukong’s global appeal, Steam’s unique role in China, nationalist-driven self-censorship, and forecasts for Phantom Blade and a possible live-service bubble.