Your guide to AI public policy from the team at a16z. Each conversation bridges Washington and Little Tech, bringing together policy leaders, researchers, and builders to explore how the U.S. stays ahead in AI. <br/><br/><a href="https://a16zpolicy.substack.com/s/conversations?utm_medium=podcast">a16zpolicy.substack.com</a>
a16z AI Policy Brief
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Podcast Overview
Your guide to AI public policy from the team at a16z. Each conversation bridges Washington and Little Tech, bringing together policy leaders, researchers, and builders to explore how the U.S. stays ahead in AI. <br/><br/><a href="https://a16zpolicy.substack.com/s/conversations?utm_medium=podcast">a16zpolicy.substack.com</a>
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11/20/2025
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Recent Episodes
May 28, 2026
AI is How America Builds Again
<p>Policymakers have spent years talking about rebuilding America’s industrial base, reshoring critical supply chains, strengthening defense production, and reducing U.S. dependence on China. But recognizing the need to build is not the same as having the ability to do it.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://a16z.com/author/erin-price-wright/">Erin Price-Wright</a>, general partner on Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism practice, joins the AI Policy Brief to make the case that AI isn’t just a software story. It’s the defining factor in the sectors that determine whether the U.S. can build, power, and defend itself in the decades ahead.</p><p>She and Matt Perault discuss how AI can help make the math work for building in the U.S. again—from accelerating mine permitting and coordinating complex industrial projects to designing factories, lowering the cost of automation, and bringing robotics to more factory floors.</p><p>They also discuss where policy needs to catch up: the laws and regulations that make it too hard and slow to build new factories in the U.S. and defense procurement that still favors incumbents over startups.</p><p>Finally, they discuss how the debates over data centers and jobs will shape whether America’s reindustrialization effort succeeds.</p><p>The takeaway: if the U.S. gets the policy environment right, AI can strengthen the industrial base, help create new kinds of jobs, and give America a powerful competitive advantage.</p><p>Topics covered:</p><p>00:00: Intro</p><p>00:54: Erin’s work investing in AI for the physical world</p><p>01:47: Why AI and reindustrialization are converging now</p><p>03:07: Applying AI to mining and critical minerals</p><p>08:28: What Ukraine reveals about defense production</p><p>18:13: How startups are breaking into government markets</p><p>20:16: Bringing a factory mindset to critical sectors and complex systems</p><p>24:39: How robotics can expand factory automation</p><p>30:22: What still makes it too hard to build in the U.S.</p><p>32:49: Using AI to design better, cheaper manufactured goods</p><p>35:05: Why data centers matter for reindustrialization</p><p>39:46: How compute could help modernize the grid and lower costs for consumers</p><p>42:50: Why AI could create new industrial jobs</p><p>Resources:</p><p>Subscribe to the a16z AI Policy Brief: <a target="_blank" href="https://a16zpolicy.substack.com/">https://a16zpolicy.substack.com/</a></p><p>Follow Matt Perault: <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/MattPerault">https://x.com/MattPerault</a></p><p>Follow Erin Price-Wright: <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/espricewright">https://x.com/espricewright</a></p><p>Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://a16zpolicy.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">a16zpolicy.substack.com</a>
May 19, 2026
Fixing the Front Door to Government
<p>For AI startups, the policy landscape is expanding faster than most small teams can reasonably track. This creates a practical challenge for Little Tech: even when a startup wants to engage constructively, it may not have the resources to follow every debate in every jurisdiction.</p><p>Ben Supple, head of global policy at ElevenLabs, joins Matt Perault to talk about his experience running a public policy function at a company that is scaling rapidly. ElevenLabs is a leader in voice AI, building products for creators, enterprises, and governments, while its public policy function is still small enough to count on one hand.</p><p>The conversation offers a look at how a fast-growing AI company prioritizes policy work, builds relationships with governments, and makes the case for clear, consistent rules that startups can implement.</p><p>They also discuss how voice AI can improve citizen services and outcomes: replacing rigid, menu-based phone trees with more intelligent conversational agents that can resolve issues, switch languages live, and offer greater accessibility.</p><p>Topics covered:</p><p>00:00: Intro</p><p>01:42: What is ElevenLabs?</p><p>04:59: Voice AI use cases, from dubbing to customer service</p><p>06:59: The competitive landscape for voice AI</p><p>10:51: Building a policy function at ElevenLabs</p><p>12:00: Prioritizing policy work with a small team</p><p>15:13: Engaging policymakers across jurisdictions</p><p>18:11: Growing and shipping at startup speed</p><p>20:19: Human oversight and AI agents</p><p>22:54: Key policy issues for voice AI</p><p>25:42: Scaling into new regulatory obligations</p><p>30:17: State AI rules and the need for clear goalposts</p><p>32:25: ElevenLabs’ expansion in New York</p><p>34:10: Fixing the front door to government</p><p>36:22: Government use cases for voice AI</p><p>38:55: The social value of voice AI, One Million Voices, and accessibility</p><p>Resources:</p><p>Subscribe to the a16z AI Policy Brief: <a target="_blank" href="https://a16zpolicy.substack.com/">https://a16zpolicy.substack.com/</a></p><p>Follow Matt Perault: <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/MattPerault">https://x.com/MattPerault</a></p><p>Follow Ben Supple: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-supple-a900695/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-supple-a900695/</a></p><p>Learn more about ElevenLabs for Government: <a target="_blank" href="https://elevenlabs.io/chatbot/government">https://elevenlabs.io/chatbot/government</a></p><p>Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://a16zpolicy.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">a16zpolicy.substack.com</a>
May 14, 2026
A Guide to Crafting a Liability Regime for AI
<p>How should we hold people responsible when AI causes harm? That's the job of a liability regime.</p><p>In this conversation, Jai Ramaswamy, chief legal and policy officer, joins Matt Perault, head of AI policy at a16z, to unpack the role of liability in AI policy: how to protect people from real harms without slowing innovation, limiting competition, or punishing the wrong actors.</p><p>They discuss why trust is essential to long-term AI adoption, why liability should focus on harmful uses rather than general-purpose development, and how policymakers can design rules that hold bad actors accountable while giving startups room to build.</p><p>The conversation also explores what a workable AI liability regime should prioritize: accountability, proportionality, enforcement of existing laws, and targeted updates where current law falls short.</p><p>For founders, policymakers, and anyone tracking the future of AI regulation, this episode offers a guide for thinking about responsibility, risk, and innovation in the AI era.</p><p>Topics covered:</p><p>00:00: Intro</p><p>01:00: Why AI liability is on the table now, and why it's been on Jai's mind for years</p><p>02:00: Why this matters — trust, long-term ecosystems, and the equities at stake</p><p>04:00: Failure modes at both ends — crushing liability vs. blanket immunity, and why neither serves Little Tech</p><p>08:00: The proposals we're concerned about — SB 1047, strict developer liability for downstream misuse, AI as an automatic aggravating factor in criminal law</p><p>14:00: The Little Tech lens — focusing on wrongdoing, not building, and why "paperwork favors the powerful"</p><p>18:00: The least-cost avoider principle and how it maps onto AI</p><p>23:00: Building a better regime — presumption of user liability for AI outputs, procedural safeguards, and well-designed safe harbors</p><p>31:00: Protecting good behavior — information sharing, incident reporting, and getting incentives right</p><p>32:00: Federal vs. state roles — the constitutional allocation as a guide to liability design</p><p>Resources:</p><p>Subscribe to the a16z AI Policy Brief: <a target="_blank" href="https://a16zpolicy.substack.com/">https://a16zpolicy.substack.com/</a></p><p>Follow Matt Perault: <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/MattPerault">https://x.com/MattPerault</a></p><p>Follow Jai Ramaswamy: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jai-ramaswamy-85a77675/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jai-ramaswamy-85a77675/</a></p><p>Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://a16zpolicy.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">a16zpolicy.substack.com</a>
17 total episodes available
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