LexNextThe Lexington
Policy Blog
- Biden’s Parting Shot on AI
The Department of Commerce dropped the Regulatory Framework for the Responsible Diffusion of Advanced Artificial Intelligence Technology on Jan. 13, and outgoing President Joe Biden tried to give it momentum in his final foreign policy speech at the State Department. Biden urged the next administration to “carry forward” his AI policies, stating: “On Artificial intelligence, we are in the lead, [ Read More…]
- Paul Steidler
- The Return Of A Sober, Positive View Of Artificial Intelligence (From RealClearMarkets)
Optimism is alive and well as we start 2025. Exhibit A is the sober and positive assessment, rooted in facts, that leaders are taking towards AI, Artificial Intelligence. President-elect Donald Trump has shared his vision of an economic “golden age” with the U.S. as “the clear global leader” in AI. He has also appointed David Sacks as White House AI & [ Read More…]
- John Luddy
- “More Ships” Must Become a Battle Cry for Today’s Maritime Industrial Base
This is a battle America can win. The mismatch between the Navy’s proposed fleet size and shipbuilding plans, and America’s strained shipbuilding capacity, is among the hottest topics in defense policy circles. “More ships” must become a battle cry in the Navy and across the defense department, with strong support from the Departments of Transportation, Commerce, and Treasury. The US [ Read More…]
- U.S. Treasury Targeted: Cybercriminals Compromise Critical Data
In a bold cyberattack, hackers breached the U.S. Treasury Department on December 8, infiltrating its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the agency responsible for administering economic sanctions. The major data breach, first reported during the week between Christmas and New Year’s and missed by many Americans amid holiday celebrations, underscores the escalating cyber warfare threat to U.S. government agencies. Hackers, believed to be from China, also accessed the U.S. Office of Financial Research, compromising sensitive unclassified data on sanctions [ Read More…]
- Commerce AI Diffusion Export Rule: House China Committee Reacts
Here it comes. With just days left in the Biden administration, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo is understood to be on the verge of dropping a finalized Export Control Framework for AI Diffusion after a rushed interagency process. “It is our understanding that the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is close to publishing a new ‘Export Control Framework for AI Diffusion’ that would create a global licensing regime for the export of advanced GPUs and the model weights of [ Read More…]
- U.S. Postal Service Is A DOGE Delight (From FEDweek)
With the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) careening to financial insolvency, mail delivery taking far longer than it did in the 1970s, and postal rate increases for the past four years outpacing the worst inflation in four decades, it is time for radical, holistic change. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) can be the catalyst for this, and it will be highly visible and beneficial to the public. As such, it will also spur reform at other [ Read More…]
- Antitrust Issues And President-elect Trump: A Discussion With Ashley Baker
The video can be viewed here. The full text is below and be viewed in the PDF here. Antitrust Issues and President-elect Trump: A Discussion with Ashley Baker Paul Steidler: Hello, I’m Paul Steidler with the Lexington Institute, and I’m joined today by Ashley Baker, Executive Director of the Committee for Justice. President Trump has recently announced key antitrust appointments. He has named Gail Slater, an Economic Advisor to Senator JD Vance, to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for [ Read More…]
- Two Navy Standard Missiles Divide and Conquer 62 Miles Up (From National Interest)
The confusion over SM-3 highlights why the incoming Trump administration must pay closer attention to missile defense production priorities, as I wrote here for National Interest. Standard Missile 3 Block IB, launched by Navy destroyers, made its combat debut on April 13, countering Iran’s barrage attacks on Israel by intercepting Iranian medium-range ballistic missiles in the exo-atmosphere, more than 62 miles above the Earth’s surface. Yet just a few weeks earlier, President Joe Biden’s defense budget terminated production of that [ Read More…]
- Boosting The Maritime Industrial Base For Navy Combat Power (From RealClearDefense)
The full text is available below and on the RealClearDefense website here. President-elect Trump’s incoming defense team will soon face a sobering fact: China’s navy is bigger than the U.S. Navy. “Our U.S. Navy shipbuilding is in a crisis and the U.S. Navy is dramatically shrinking, Sen. Dan Sullivan has said. By 2027, the U.S. Navy may be down to 280 ships while China’s navy hits 400. China’s navy “has been on a historic trajectory these last 25 years,” according to ADM Samuel [ Read More…]
- Cantwell, Cruz: Rethink “Draconian” Market Caps on International Chip Sales
Driving international sales of chips to China’s Huawei is not a good outcome. Yet that’s exactly what might happen if President Joe Biden’s outgoing team releases a rumored draft Executive Order that would set up specific rules capping the sale of advanced AI chips to foreign nations other than China. A December 19, 2024 letter from Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chair and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, urged the administration to [ Read More…]
- Fixing The US And EU Deteriorating Economic Relationship
For decades, the United States and Europe have had close economic cooperation that has fueled immense growth and prosperity. That relationship is now threatened, particularly in light of European Union (EU) regulations that have imposed high fines against US companies and even stopped some mergers of US companies. President-elect Trump has an opportunity to turn this around. We discussed these issues with Dr. Aurelien Portuese, Research Professor and Founding Director of the George Washington University Competition & Innovation Lab. He [ Read More…]
- Lina Khan Positioned to Name FTC’s Next Inspector General
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has enormous investigatory and legal power against U.S. companies. To ensure that power is not abused, it is essential that the agency have a strong Inspector General and that there are related checks and balances from Congress. From June 2018 to November 2024, the FTC’s Inspector General was Andrew Katsaros. He was appointed by then FTC Chair Joseph Simons, a Republican. On September 30, Katsaros issued a report strongly critical of management for news leaks [ Read More…]
- Slam The Backdoor On China But Keep American Global Business, Allies In AI
Outgoing Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has been tireless and effective in her efforts to keep China from accessing the most advanced semiconductor chips and other technology used to advance artificial intelligence. Thanks to the hard work of the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Standards, Communist China can’t buy top-of-the-line chips without a license anymore. On December 2, the BIS was applauded for releasing another round of controls on semiconductor manufacturing and high-bandwidth memory and sanctioned another 140 [ Read More…]