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asad ramzanali

@asad09.bsky.social
89 followers 46 following 56 posts

AI & tech policy, Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator. My own views.

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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In short, NARA treats Chat/Claude prompts & outputs as “not received” until an employee copies them into an agency system, something few will do, effectively neutering the guidance. That's not the best reading of the statute and should be fixed
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Fed gov't employees are using AI to revoke visas, patient care for vets, & military ops. Last month the Nat'l Archives said most of that use of AI doesn't count as “records” under the Fed Records Act. Margaret Mullins & I analyze the guidance vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com/p/federal-em...
vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com
Federal Employees’ AI Prompts Are Records … in Narrow Circumstances
New National Archives guidance leaves most government AI use off the record
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Just Security @justsecurity.org · 21/09/2026
The National Archives and Records Administration's new AI guidance "allows much of how the government uses AI to remain beyond the inspection of affected parties, researchers, other policymakers, and members of the public," write @asad09.bsky.social and Margaret Mullins.
justsecurity.org
Federal Employees’ AI Prompts Are Records … in Narrow Circumstances
If federal agencies fail to create records related to their AI interactions, they effectively insulate their decisionmaking from oversight.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
A couple of companies keep saying they're developing products that might be dangerous but want gov't to pace them. They can actually slow down on their own, no law needed. Ofc Congress needs to act on many fronts too. I joined @WalkerinDC on BBC to discuss the latest AI saga.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Thanks @b-cavello.bsky.social! @lizjackson.bsky.social here's the full paper if useful: cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-co.... The "Bubble Burst or an Economy-Wide Crash?" section (pp 5-12) might have useful things. You might also try Matt Scherer's www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications...
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Even in an OpenAI v Anthropic AI horserace, Google wins as investor in 1, compute supplier to both. 4 months after a judge let it keep paying Apple $20B/yr for default search, they announce Gemini will power Siri: same tactic, now in the mkt the court said would discipline Search
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Cash, compute & data Google got from its Search monopoly became essential inputs to Gemini. And genAI is no check. It’s already concentrated & Google's vertically integrated across the whole stack: Search, Chrome & Android for distro; Gemini models, Cloud & TPUs for compute
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A court found Google illegally monopolized Search but denied major remedies, betting genAI would discipline the monopoly. Joel Thayer & I argue why that's wrong. www.promarket.org/2026/09/02/g...
promarket.org
Google’s Search Monopoly Money Will Let It Purchase the AI Market - ProMarket
Google built and maintains its AI leadership from cash, compute, and data accumulated illegally from its monopoly in internet search. Its control over internet search, advertisement, mobile phone oper...
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Roosevelt Institute @rooseveltinstitute.org · 21/08/2026
Tech policy is only as strong as government’s ability to make it work. In our latest in Building the Future: Meet the Roosevelt Society, @asad09.bsky.social reflects on his path from Silicon Valley to the White House and why he works at “the scale of affecting the public.”
rooseveltinstitute.org
The Race to Regulate New Tech: Q&A with Asad Ramzanali
Asad Ramzanali discusses AI and tech policy, regulatory reform, and how government can deliver bold solutions in this Building the Future: Meet the Roosevelt Society interview.
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Ellen P. Goodman @ellgood.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Because I too needed to comment on Zuck’s “AI for all” manifesto … open weight models are not free so long as oligarchs control compute. Nods to Ithiel de Sola Pool @asad09.bsky.social @smw.bsky.social @davidthewid.bsky.social @justinhendrix.bsky.social www.techpolicy.press/zuckerbergs-...
techpolicy.press
Zuckerberg’s AI Manifesto Lost it at Compute
It's worth asking what it would take to actually democratize AI at each layer of the stack, writes Ellen P. Goodman, starting with compute.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Finally, a monopolist's entry into an adjacent market has never been a defense. Judicial "humility" counsels applying the law, not to forecasting where AI is heading. 4/4 Full brief: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
#01208875633 in USA v. Google LLC (D.C. Cir., 26-5023) – CourtListener.com
AMICUS FOR APPELLEE BRIEF [2186578] filed by Bipartisan Technology Policy Experts [Service Date: 08/04/2026 ] Length of Brief: 5,183. [26-5023, 26-5047, 26-5049] (Thayer, Joel) [Entered: 08/04/2026 01...
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
And genAI isn't a competitive check. It's already concentrated, and Google is vertically integrated across the whole stack. Google has a distribution advantage: >40% of searches return an AI Overview. 3/4
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
But as we argue, Google's search monopoly financed & seeded its AI position: cash, compute, & data from search funded Google Brain, $650M DeepMind acquisition, & researchers who wrote the transformer paper. 2/4
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
This wk, @joellthayer.bsky.social & I filed an amicus brief in the U.S. v. Google appeal. A federal court found Google unlawfully maintained its search monopoly, then denied remedies commensurate with the problem because genAI might discipline that monopoly (what can't AI do?!). 1/4
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Graduates are booing AI as they face the risk of it decimating the job market. In the Depression, the Works Progress Administration put millions to work. As @ganeshsitaraman.bsky.social & I argue, Congress should start prototyping a new WPA. vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com/p/the-case-f...
vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com
The Case for a New Works Progress Administration
Right now, roughly four million students are walking across stages at the nearly four thousand colleges around the U.S.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Anthropic, OpenAI & Google control foundation models nearly every AI app is built on. And they're building, buying & investing in apps that compete with their customers. Tom Wheeler & I argue model providers should be barred from unjust discrimination. www.brookings.edu/articles/to-...
brookings.edu
To unleash AI innovation, stop model providers from picking the winners | Brookings
Asad Ramzanali and Tom Wheeler explain why competition is the best route to the future of inventive AI applications.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
this is excellent work by @nathaliemarechal.net
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Washington Monthly @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Risky financial maneuvers and mountains of debt mean the AI economy is in trouble, says Vanderbilt’s Asad Ramzanali (@asad09.bsky.social). America needs to get ready, writes @anne-s-kim.bsky.social.
washingtonmonthly.com
An AI Crash Is Coming. What Then?
Risky financial maneuvers and mountains of debt mean the AI economy is in trouble, says Vanderbilt’s Asad Ramzanali.
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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
I spoke to Asad Ramzanali from the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator for Political Economy and Regulation about his new report, "After the AI Crash," which argues that if the AI bubble bursts it will represent a significant policy opportunity for tech reform. Listen: www.techpolicy.press/what-to-do-i...
Podcast graphic for Tech Policy Press: "What to Do If the AI Bubble Bursts" by Justin Hendrix
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Full paper: www.rand.org/pubs/perspec...
rand.org
Toward a Grand Strategy for AI Resilience
In this paper, the authors argue that the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence is likely to change society in significant and potentially threatening ways and that a policy strategy centered...
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
The right policy approach to AI isn't do-nothing or wait-and-see; it's resilience. @ganeshsitaraman.bsky.social & I lay out a proactive, structural strategy across the economy, society, & nat sec in a paper published by Rand. Summary: vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com/p/resilience...
vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com
Resilience as a Policy Approach for AI
Different camps of AI commenters—accelerationists, doomers, pragmatists, and populists—have strong but diverging views about the future of AI.
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Nathalie Maréchal, PhD @nathaliemarechal.net · 27/03/2026
The techs we collectively call AI have use cases, but policy should be about solving problems in the public interest, not identifying ways to deploy specific technologies just for the sake of doing so. Yet that’s *still* how so many of these convos are framed. It’s exhausting. And harmful.
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Nathalie Maréchal, PhD @nathaliemarechal.net · 27/03/2026
Similarly, referring to “AI” as an actor rather than a tool serves to absolve people and institutions of accountability. I’m struck by how many so-called leaders seem happy to treat widespread “AI” adoption as a fait accompli, an act of God or natural phenomenon that can’t be contested, only managed
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
After 2008, policymakers had no plan. They bailed out banks, not people. We can't make the same mistakes. Congress should be debating these now.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Then Congress should go big on reforms: a Glass-Steagall for AI separating algorithms from data centers. A public cloud built from stranded data center assets. A Digital WPA for jobs. A new digital regulator. Ban extractive / surveillance business models. And more.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
What to do after the crash: First, stop the financial engineering accelerating the crash. And prosecute related fraud: Financial crises almost always involve fraud. Accountability after 2008 was virtually nonexistent.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
This isn't a dot-com replay. The Mag Seven are ~35% of the stock market and borrowing at record levels. Circular financing, off-balance-sheet SPVs, and private credit link these companies to each other and the whole financial system. This is more like 2008 than 2000.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Hyperscalers plan ~$700B in capex this year – a larger GDP share than the Apollo program, Manhattan proj., highway system & nearly every other capital effort in US history. And YOU are funding it, through financial engineering that risks your 401(k), life insurance, and savings.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Paper here: cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-co... Summary on substack here: vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com/p/after-the-...
cdn.vanderbilt.edu
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
For months, financiers, policymakers, & technologists have warned about an AI bubble as trillions in investment chase billions in revenue. But almost no one is asking what to do after it bursts. My new paper lays out how a crash might happen & bold proposals for after the crash.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
that's very fair. This is likely to be a real issue that should also be on the table for policymakers to start considering more seriously
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
substack post: vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com/p/a-policy-a...
vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com
A Policy Agenda for Little Tech
What should policymakers do to support Little Tech?
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
full paper: cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-co...
cdn.vanderbilt.edu
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
People assume that gov’t inaction is the best policy strategy to support Little Tech. We pulled together conservative, progressives, LT companies, investors and found 7 discrete fed. & state policies to support Little Tech that could garner bipartisan and industry support.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
AI Neutrality borrows from net neutrality: when firms control essential infrastructure, they shouldn’t discriminate in favor of their own services. The goal isn’t to slow AI but to protect competition & innovation for end users. Substack post: vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com/p/net-neutra...
vanderbiltpolicyaccelerator.substack.com
Net Neutrality for AI
Over the course of 2025, “vibe coding” went from Silicon Valley pet projects to a global phenomenon.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Those conflicts aren’t hypothetical. Last year, Anthropic cut off API access to the AI coding agent Windsurf while its own Claude Code was gaining traction, showing how model providers can act as gatekeepers and pick winners and losers.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
I’ve got a new report w/ Akhil Rajan recommending AI Neutrality. Anthropic, OpenAI, Google control ~90% of AI model API revenues. They also compete with their customers, creating unavoidable conflicts of interest and opportunities to abuse power. cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-co...
cdn.vanderbilt.edu
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Internet Education Foundation Projects @iefprojects.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
🚨 Watch Live at Noon. "Tech Policy in 2026: Congressional 2nd Session Preview" 📅 Wed. Jan. 28 ⏰ 12 pm 📍 Rayburn House Office Building 📺 Video bit.ly/techpolicy2026 @asad09.bsky.social @lehogg.bsky.social @netchoice.bsky.social
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J.B. Branch @jbbranch.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Starting 2026 with a new @techpolicypress.bsky.social piece, I spoke with leading voices in AI governance on what’s truly at stake this year: power, accountability, and democratic control. www.techpolicy.press/expert-predi... @hlntnr.bsky.social @asad09.bsky.social @adambillen.bsky.social
techpolicy.press
Expert Predictions on What’s at Stake in AI Policy in 2026 | TechPolicy.Press
Public Citizen's J.B. Branch and Ilana Beller invited predictions from multiple policy experts about what to expect on AI policy in the year ahead.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Substack post summarizing the idea: cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-co...
cdn.vanderbilt.edu
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Digging up roads is 75–90% of the cost of deploying broadband, yet we keep excavating again & again. A smarter approach: install conduit when roads are open. @bendinovelli.bsky.social and my new paper explains why most Dig Once policies fall short & how to fix them cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-co...
cdn.vanderbilt.edu
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Arati Prabhakar @aratip.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
@asad09.bsky.social and I call for better AI ambitions, beyond just business productivity. That will take forward government action and investment, not destruction. A future with new medicines for intractable diseases, better K-12 education, and improved weather forecasts is at stake.
techpolicy.press
America Needs Better AI Ambitions | TechPolicy.Press
Arati Prabhakar and Asad Ramzanali say we are caught between fantastical claims and leaders deferring to industry without the imagination to drive progress.
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Kara Swisher @karaswisher.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
This is smart — clean data, research money and safety www.politico.com/news/magazin...
politico.com
Trump Is Taking 3 Steps Backward in the AI Race
The administration needs to shift focus away from providing chips and datacenters to the world’s richest companies.
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Arati Prabhakar @aratip.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Trump’s latest order on AI—which he says is “inspired by the legacy of the Apollo Program” is a meh step forward — following three giant leaps backwards. @asad09.bsky.social and I wrote about how far off it is from what it takes for America to win.
politico.com
Trump Is Taking Three Steps Backward in the AI Race
The administration needs to shift focus away from providing chips and datacenters to the world’s richest companies.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
New essay in Politico today w/ @aratip.bsky.social on how Trump's “Genesis Mission” is one small step forward after giant leaps backward. The Trump AI doctrine really just boils down to boosting friendly tech companies. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
politico.com
Trump Is Taking Three Steps Backward in the AI Race
The administration needs to shift focus away from providing chips and datacenters to the world’s richest companies.
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Federation of American Scientists @scientistsorg.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
🚨Call for policy proposals If AI adoption is not slowing down, policy governing safety and security practices needs to speed up. This is where you come in.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
The latest ClickHere podcast episode connects the grassroots protests outside data centers to the monopolistic businesses practices inside. I appreciated the opportunity to contribute to this thoughtful reporting. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
The people vs. the cloud
Podcast Episode · Click Here · 10/28/2025 · 26m
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
This is excellent.
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asad ramzanali @asad09.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
A few trillion-dollar companies now comprise an AI oligopoly. Nvidia's announcement to invest $100B in OpenAI makes things worse. As I say in TIME, vertical integration is about money, control, and power. Policymakers should reject such combinations. time.com/7322418/chat...
time.com
We Need to Break Up Big AI Before It Breaks Us
When the same few companies own the entire tech stack, they stop competing and start colluding.
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
We're introducing a new section today called Big Ideas, exploring next-generation solutions for pressing policy problems. Today James Baratta looks at a new report on how to structure the cloud computing industry. prospect.org/power/2025-0...
prospect.org
AI’s $600 Billion Blind Spot
A new report offers a legislative road map for creating a competitive and secure cloud computing market, without forcing policymakers to reinvent the wheel.
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