Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
We’re kicking off our Powerful AI and National Security series with the great Richard Danzig. He was Clinton’s Secretary of the Navy, is on the board of RAND, and has done a great many other things. He is also the author of the recent paper, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and National Security: The Fierce Urgency of Now. What will it take for America to, as Danzig puts it, get out of bed?
Our co-host today and for this series is Teddy Collins, who spent five years at DeepMind before serving in the Biden White House and helping to write the 2024 AI National Security Memorandum.
Thanks to the Hudson Institute for sponsoring this episode.
We discuss:
Why present bias and slow adaptation leave the national security establishment unprepared, and what real AI readiness requires today,
Why relying on a future “messianic” AGI instead of present-day “spiky” breakthroughs is a strategic error,
How the Department of War’s rigid, siloed structure chronically underweights domains like cyber and AI,
Parallels with the 16th century, including the age of exploration and the jump from feudalism to capitalism,
Plus: What AI is doing to expert confidence, Richard Danzig’s advice for parents, and book recommendations.
YOU SHOULD SIGN UP TO MY WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!
chinatalk.substack.com
The podcast is also available in your favorite app, just search ChinaTalk!
We’re kicking off our Powerful AI and National Security series with the great Richard Danzig. He was Clinton’s Secretary of the Navy, is on the board of RAND, and has done a great many other things. He is also the author of the recent paper, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and National Security: The Fierce Urgency of Now. What will it take for America to, as Danzig puts it, get out of bed?
Our co-host today and for this series is Teddy Collins, who spent five years at DeepMind before serving in the Biden White House and helping to write the 2024 AI National Security Memorandum.
Thanks to the Hudson Institute for sponsoring this episode.
We discuss:
Why present bias and slow adaptation leave the national security establishment unprepared, and what real AI readiness requires today,
Why relying on a future “messianic” AGI instead of present-day “spiky” breakthroughs is a strategic error,
How the Department of War’s rigid, siloed structure chronically underweights domains like cyber and AI,
Parallels with the 16th century, including the age of exploration and the jump from feudalism to capitalism,
Plus: What AI is doing to expert confidence, Richard Danzig’s advice for parents, and book recommendations.
YOU SHOULD SIGN UP TO MY WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!
chinatalk.substack.com
The podcast is also available in your favorite app, just search ChinaTalk!
