Interview, Fireside Chat
The Little Tech Agenda for AI
- The firm plans to differentiate itself from large tech players by advocating for "little tech," specifically startups and smaller builders, through a recruiting vehicle that highlights this unique advocacy role.
- Policy efforts will focus on verticals including AI, crypto, American dynamism (defense procurement reform), bio/health (FDA reform), and FinTech, with a core pillar arguing that regulatory frameworks must distinguish between five-person operations and trillion-dollar enterprises.
- The firm anticipates creating vibrant ecosystems that yield long-run financial benefits for investors over 10-year fund cycles, with interests aligned to the U.S. goal of building companies that drive jobs and national security components.
- The firm expects to separate "good actors from bad actors" in the AI space, operating under the premise that regulatory frameworks should regulate harmful use (violations of consumer protection, civil rights, or criminal law) rather than development, noting that "zero regulation" is never the position.
- The firm predicts the current administration's AI stance will remain the U.S. position for the next three and a half years, prioritizing winning the technological race against China while maintaining soft power and preventing Chinese market entry.
- Concerns regarding open-source AI models being given to China are viewed as unfounded, given existing global access to models like DeepSeek, while the firm warns that restrictive policies could cause the U.S. to lose the national security competition.
- The firm contrasts current industry concerns with the previous administration's view of a landscape dominated by two or three locked-down major companies, expecting a shift toward a more rapid development path under the new National AI Action Plan.
- The firm expects the Altruist community, backed by large sums of money over a 10-year window, has effectively influenced think tanks to create fear, with their spending dwarfing current tech industry political expenditures.
- A primary issue for the next six months to a year is achieving federal preemption for model regulation to avoid the significant costs of complying with a patchwork of 50-state laws, with the Dormant Commerce Clause expected to guide state boundaries on interstate commerce.
- The firm expects to take an affirmative legislative position in upcoming sessions, including creating a central federal resource to lower startup barriers regarding compute costs and data access, while supporting state-level policing of harmful conduct within jurisdictions.
- The firm anticipates the "Leading the Future" PAC will serve as a political center of gravity at federal, state, and local levels to build a coalition aligned between big, medium, and little tech, though it predicts potential fracturing between big and little tech sectors in the coming months.
- The firm expects that existing law generally covers AI concerns regarding harmful use, though it notes that First Amendment restrictions limit government regulation of speech and misinformation, while some policymakers may use AI conversations to rewrite the Telecom Act of 1996.
- The firm criticizes complex administrative approaches like licensing regimes and impact assessments as potential deregulation efforts that are not well thought through, citing a lack of evidence that ex-ante regulation can prevent harm without creating surveillance issues.
- The firm expects to see additional policy discussions on workforce training, literacy, and data centers/energy, while maintaining that its "Little Tech Agenda" is nonpartisan and will evaluate policies based on content rather than the advocate.
- The firm expects that many startups face daunting challenges due to a lack of general counsel, policy heads, or communications directors, necessitating a regulatory approach that facilitates competition with major players like Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, or Google.