PREVIEW: SPECIAL EDITION - Will Kaback interviews former congressman Brad Carson about Artificial Intelligence

Summary

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Tangle Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: PREVIEW: SPECIAL EDITION — Will Kaback interviews former congressman Brad Carson about Artificial Intelligence
Host: Will Kaback (Senior Editor)
Guest: Brad Carson (Former Congressman, Iraq War veteran, ex-Senior Pentagon Official, University President, AI Policy Advocate)
Date: March 21, 2026

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Episode Overview

This special edition of Tangle features an in-depth conversation between host Will Kaback and Brad Carson, a former congressman now at the forefront of AI policy debates in Washington. The discussion explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming American society and politics, the emerging bipartisan consensus around the need for guardrails on AI, and the deeper societal questions posed by rapid technological change.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Brad Carson’s Path to AI Policy Leadership

[04:16–05:38]

• Carson describes his trajectory from young politician (two-term congressman, Iraq War veteran, Obama administration official) to university president, and ultimately to an AI policy advocate.
• His interest in AI began almost a decade ago, leading to the founding of Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI), a bipartisan nonprofit pushing for AI guardrails, and work with the super PAC Public First Action.
• Notable quote:

  “I was really lucky that probably almost a decade ago now I became interested in artificial intelligence and started tracking it... As it's become more prominent over the last three or four years, I've been kind of at the front and center.” – Brad Carson [04:37]

2. The Political Landscape: How Parties View AI

[09:55–12:03]

• Both Democrats and Republicans are deeply concerned about AI, but frame the issues differently:
  • Republicans: Worry about “transhumanism” and existential risks, sometimes in a religious or philosophical way.
  • Democrats: Focus on labor impacts, jobs, economic future, and practical effects on families.
  • Shared Concerns: Both express anxiety about children’s safety online and the broader social impacts.
• Carson contrasts this with the crypto debate, which has become more partisan; AI is a broader issue.
• Notable quote:

  “What we really see is a wide bipartisan consensus about concern and hope what AI can be. It has some real promise, and people recognize that. And really the opposition to it is isolated in a few precincts of Silicon Valley...” – Brad Carson [11:34]

3. The Role of Super PACs and Advocacy Groups

[05:46–07:53]

• Carson explains the legal and operational distinctions:
  • Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI): Educates Congress; bipartisan nonprofit.
  • Public First Action: Network of Super PACs supporting candidates in favor of responsible AI guardrails; mirrors the rise of crypto-focused PACs and the imperative to counter industry pushback against regulation.
• They aim to raise $75 million to oppose $125 million being spent by industry groups lobbying against regulation.
• Notable quote:

  “It's not a good thing for American democracy that these super PACs even exist. But if they do, it means you have to fight back.” – Brad Carson [07:21]

4. AI as an Emerging Political Issue

[12:08–13:59]

• AI is rapidly rising as an election and policy issue, with increasing visibility in 2026 midterms.
• Carson notes that in 2024, AI was not even mentioned by presidential candidates, but predicts it will be central by 2028.
• Notable quote:

  “It’s rising in salience faster than any issue [a top pollster] has seen... I don’t think 2028 is going to see a repeat of [2024].” – Brad Carson [13:34]

5. Prospects and Challenges of AI Legislation

[13:59–15:14]

• Significant AI legislation is unlikely in an election year, but smaller measures might pass (e.g., federal center for AI standards, the CREATE Act to democratize access to AI tools, or kids’ safety measures).
• Comprehensive frameworks may take a year or two to develop, pending shifts in Congressional priorities.

6. Silicon Valley, China, and the Race Narrative

[15:14–15:45]

• Carson acknowledges the perspective that regulation could put the U.S. behind China in AI development, but this is primarily held by certain tech industry actors.
• The discussion ends just as Carson prepares to respond to the “race against China” narrative, signaling the importance and complexity of international competition as a recurring theme.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI becoming a critical policy debate:

  “AI is something that's here, something that's accelerating, and something that's starting to reshape many, many facets of our lives... The rules of the road are still being written.” – Will Kaback [01:54]

• On the need for bipartisan action:

  “Both parties have deep concern about it... what we really see is a wide bipartisan consensus about concern and hope.” – Brad Carson [10:34–11:42]

• On the power of industry and super PACs:

  “It’s not a good thing for American democracy that these super PACs even exist. But if they do, it means you have to fight back.” – Brad Carson [07:21]

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Important Timestamps

• 04:11 — Interview begins: Will introduces Brad Carson
• 04:37 — Carson’s personal and professional journey to AI
• 05:46–07:53 — Distinguishing ARI and Public First Action; the fight against industry super PACs
• 09:55 — Comparing AI and crypto as policy battlegrounds
• 10:34–12:03 — How Republicans and Democrats approach AI (including bipartisan overlap)
• 12:08–13:59 — The rise of AI as a salient national political issue
• 13:59–15:14 — Legislative expectations for AI in an election year
• 15:14–15:45 — Addressing the “race with China” perspective in AI development

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Structure & Tone

The episode is pragmatic, sharp, and nonpartisan—mirroring Tangle’s mission of robust, good faith political discussion. Carson’s tone is earnest and analytical, highlighting both urgency and caution. Will Kaback guides the discussion with curiosity and a focus on clarity for listeners navigating the fast-changing AI policy landscape.

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For the full interview and more, visit readtangle.com.

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Transcript

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[Will K.]

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening and welcome to the Tangle Podcast.

I'm your host today.

Senior Editor Will K. A quick reminder up front. We are off this week for our annual break that we take around the start of the spring, but we'll be back with our normal content on Monday, March 30th. Now onto today's interview. I'm going to say something that probably sounds pretty obvious. Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant futuristic idea. It's something that's here, something that's accelerating, and something that's starting to reshape many, many facets of our lives. From how we work to how we fight wars, to how we understand what it even means to be human. AI is impacting all of it. And yet, for something that is this powerful, the rules of the road are still being written. In some cases, it doesn't even feel like they've started to be written. So who's deciding what those rules should be? And what happens if we get them wrong? Today's guest has had a front row seat to some of the biggest challenges the country has faced in the past. Brad Carson is a former member of Congress, an Iraq War veteran, a former senior Pentagon official, and a university president. Now he's at the center of one of the most important policy debates in America, how and whether to put guardrails on artificial intelligence. In my conversation with him, we dig into why AI is rapidly becoming a major political issue, how both Republicans and Democrats are thinking about it, and why the biggest threat to the industry might not be China, but the growing distrust of the American public. We also go deeper into the stakes that don't get talked about enough, like what happens if AI replaces not just some jobs, but most or all jobs? What does that do to our economy, our politics, and maybe most importantly, our sense of purpose? And lastly, the one question that looms over all of this, are we ready for what's coming? I'm excited to share my conversation with Brad, and I hope you all find it as thought provoking as I did. So without further ado, here's my conversation with Brad Carson.

All right, Brad, thanks so much for joining us.

[Brad Carson]

My honor to be with you.

[Will K.]

Will. So you have had quite a career path. You served in Congress, you served in the Iraq war, you served in the Obama administration, you served as a college president most recently, and now you're doing work in the AI space. So can you just start by taking me through that path that you've had and how it brought you to the work that you're doing today?

[Brad Carson]

Well, I was a young person. I really wanted to be involved in politics. I believed it was the most important profession one could pursue. And so I was elected to Congress in my early 30s and served two terms there before running unsuccessfully for the US Senate. And so since then, I tried to do interesting work, always trying to find what to me was the most important challenge our country faced and to try to find a way to get into it. I was really lucky that probably almost a decade ago now I became interested in artificial intelligence and started tracking it a bit. I'd go to conferences, get invited to things, and of course, as it's become more prominent over the last three or four years, I've been kind of at the front and center of a lot of the work. And so three years ago, I formed a group called Americans for Responsible Innovation, it's a bipartisan nonprofit that advocates for reasonable guardrails and artificial intelligence. And then I left the university presidency eight or nine months ago to do this full time. So I feel like I've been in the fight for a long time.

[Will K.]

And you also, in addition to the Americans for Responsible Innovation, you're also involved with the Public First Action pac, is that right?

[Brad Carson]

That's right. That's a network of super PACs that support candidates who believe in reasonable guardrails on AI.

[Will K.]

Can you tell me a little bit about how you wear each of those hats and how your work with each of those organizations differs and maybe overlaps as well?

[Brad Carson]

Sure, they're in the same subject matter, but they're legally distinct and operationally different. So Ari is a 501C4, a C3 as well. And we focus really on educating members of Congress about artificial intelligence, advocating for or against various policies that are there. The group is now almost 40 people. And so we're the largest AI group in Washington, D.C. and we've been very successful, even though we're only a couple of years old. The super PAC, which is called Public First Action, is a C4, has a couple of super PACs underneath it, one supporting Democratic candidates, one supporting Republican candidates. It got started because we were watching what was happening in American politics, and this is entirely lamentable. It's not a good thing for our democracy with these gigantic super PACs are coming in and. And owning certain policy areas. We saw in the last cycle with crypto, where they spent more than $100 million to kind of reform Congress in a way favorable to their industry. And concerning to us was how the very same people were going to do that for artificial intelligence, try to fight any kind of rules or regulations about it. And so it's not a good thing for American democracy that these super PACs even exist. But if they do, means you have to fight back. So we've raised, or hope to raise about $75 million to combat $125 million super PAC. That's really against any kind of rules and regulations about AI supporting candidates who we think are willing to support reasonable, bipartisan, sensible guardrails of.

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[Will K.]

I'm glad that you brought up crypto as well, because I think that is another space that has emerged, at least to the national consciousness in the last few years, where the partisan lines weren't immediately clear. I think for crypto those lines are becoming clearer, especially under the Trump administration. But for AI, I don't think they are in the same place and in fact I don't know if they ever will be given just the breadth of the issues that it touches. But in your work, you work with both Republicans and Democrats, do you see certain issues related to AI resonating more with lawmakers on one side or the other? Or what are some of the concerns that you are hearing from each party?

[Brad Carson]

Both parties have deep concern about it and they're related, but they sometimes articulate it in slightly different vocabulary, if you will. And so, for example, Republicans are often concerned about the transhumanist aspect of this or the idea that humans might be replaced by some kind of superior species, if you will. That's like the kind of religious framing some of those people do. This is folks like Steve Bannon, Marjorie Taylor Greene, others like that. And so they often phrase it in this kind of religious terms. You know, Democrats are often concerned more about what's happening at the dinner table, such as labor market effects, is this going to spike? Unemployment, Are my kids going to be able to get a job? What's the future of this technology in the military? And then both parties are very concerned, I think, about kids safety and children being led into self harm, or AI psychosis more broadly. And so what we really see is a wide bipartisan consensus about concern and hope. What AI can be. It has some real promise, and people recognize that. And really the opposition to it is isolated in a few precincts of Silicon Valley that think they can really billionaires who think they can, like, push a policy of no regulation at all. So this is unlike crypto. This has much more widespread interest. Crypto is kind of a niche interest to people.

[Will K.]

Right.

[Brad Carson]

AI is something that everybody cares about.

[Will K.]

Yeah. And I know we're headed into the midterms. I mean, just we're talking here on March 4th, and just last night, we had the first primary elections of the 2026 midterms. AI is already being talked about as a major campaign issue for several candidates in some of the biggest races. And I'm sure that's only going to increase. Zooming out, though, a little bit. Just my impression of somebody looking at this from the outside in, it feels like the start of 2026 here. We may look back on it as a kind of watershed moment in artificial intelligence, both in the development of the technology, but also in the way that it's talked about as a political issue and on the national level. And I'm wondering what your perspective is on that. Do you feel like we are kind of in a moment where things are rapidly accelerating and the need for the kind of guardrails and regulation that you're advocating for is particularly pressing?

[Brad Carson]

No, I think it is. I was talking to one of the nation's best pollsters last week, and we're talking. The question was, do people care about artificial intelligence policy as a voting issue? And he said that the issue is still not the top matter for most people, but it's rising in salience faster than any issue he's seen in his political polling career. So I think by next year, by 2028, certainly this is going to be one of the major issues in American politics. And I think you've already seen it last night, elections in Texas, North Carolina, AI was an issue there. Data centers are front and center for lots of people across the nation too. So this is only going to grow. And it's kind of remarkable because in 2024, the election cycle, not a single candidate of either party ever mentioned the words artificial intelligence. I don't think 2028 is going to see a repeat of that.

[Will K.]

Yeah, I share that impression for sure. My sense being that there may not be a huge appetite for significant legislation under a Republican controlled Congress and a Republican controlled White House. So with control of one chamber or potentially both being in the balance here, do you see or in your conversations with candidates, do you see an AI regulation platform having the kind of breakthrough

power this year that it might, let's

say in 2028 as well?

[Brad Carson]

It's going to be hard this year, an election year. And so I don't have great optimism for huge change. Although I do think there are some smaller things that are impactful for AI, like putting into law the center for AI Standards and Innovation. There's a bill called the Create act that allows universities and nonprofits more access to compute power, which is right now very much concentrated in the very large industry players. There's some kids safety measures that are being talked about that could be, I think, fruitful. But I think we're going to have to wait probably a year or two before you see everyone come to the table and talk about what a comprehensive framework might look like.

[Will K.]

You talked a bit about the role of Silicon Valley in pushing against some of this regulation. Another perspective that I've heard, I think that some in Silicon Valley might share this, but I don't think it's exclusive to them, is that we are in

a race against our adversaries in developing this technology and that it's more important

that we win the race than we necessarily put up a bunch of speed bumps right now.

Have you heard that perspective and what

do you think of it?

[John Law]

Hey everybody, this is John, executive producer for Tangle. We hope you enjoyed this preview of our latest episode. If you are not currently a newsletter subscriber or a premium podcast subscriber and you are enjoying this content and would like to finish it, you can go to readtangle.com and sign up for a newsletter subscription or you can sign up for a podcast subscription or a bundled subscription which gets you both the podcast and the newsletter and unlocks the rest of this episode as well as ad free daily podcasts more Friday editions, Sunday editions, bonus content, interviews and so much more. Most importantly, we just want to say thank you so much for your support. We're working hard to bring you much more content and more offerings, so stay tuned. I will join you again for the daily podcast. For the rest of the crew, this is John Law signing off. Have a great day, y'.

[Will K.]

All.

[John Law]

Peace.

[Isaac Saul]

Our Executive Editor and founder is me, Isaac Saul, and our Executive Producer is John Law. Today's episode was edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Our editorial staff is led by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman with Sarah Senior Editor Will K. Back and Associate Editors Audrey Moorhead, Lindsey Knuth and Bailey Sal. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. To learn more about Tangle and to sign up for a membership, please visit our [e-mail].

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