In case you missed it, remember to also check out the first episode in this series, which covers AI and knowledge creation.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the world’s primary engines of knowledge creation. And as this meaning-making system comes online, so too does the inevitable desire for government control. How the First Amendment and other legal principles apply to AI will determine whether the future operating system for the planet acts as a tool for inquiry and expansion of human knowledge and capacity — or for compliance and top-down control. History is blunt on this point: once government acquires durable power over speech and expression, that power only ever expands — and the lure of censorship becomes virtually impossible to resist.
This discussion — from Jan. 22, 2026 — brings together the individuals tracking and resisting that expansion. Dean Ball — technologist, AI governance analyst, and former White House science and technology adviser — warns that “responsible AI” rhetoric often serves as an on-ramp to permanent regulatory control. Ari Cohn, First Amendment attorney and tech policy expert, brings a free speech lawyer’s clarity to where government proposals cross constitutional lines. Matt Perault, head of AI policy at Andreessen Horowitz, examines how regulatory choices shape the incentives that drive innovation. And guiding the discussion is Kmele Foster of The Fifth Column podcast, whose work is defined by a first-principles approach and an inimitable commitment to curiosity.
Panelists:
Dean W. Ball (X), senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, former senior AI policy advisor at the White House OSTP, and principal staff drafter of “America’s AI Action Plan”
Matt Perault (X), AI policy head at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and former director of the Center on Technology Policy at University of UNC Chapel Hill. Read a16z’s AI policy work on Substack
Ari Cohn (X), a nationally recognized attorney and expert on the First Amendment, defamation, and Section 230
Kmele Foster (X), editor-at-large at Tangle News and partner at Big Think
