This wasn't the first time Mark Warner was at the show. The governor of Virginia at the time was a senior senator who was in favor of tech. He was a big supporter of Nextel during his time at Columbia Capital.
Warner was invited by the CTA to appear on a panel with two other senators. As technology grows more central to our lives and the policies that govern them, the program was part of a larger effort to bring law makers to the show.
Warner has made tech a centerpiece of much of the work he has done in Congress. The Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was a supporter of the CHIPS act.
We sat down with the senator in a Las Vegas Convention Center meeting room to discuss some of the day's most important technology concerns.
Kevin McCarthy's propensity for stepping on rakes on the way to becoming House Speaker was the main topic of discussion this week.
The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
At CES this week learning about the future of tech to better be able to legislate for tomorrow’s tech landscape.
Tried Magic Leap's glasses to see if I could look into the future and find out when we’ll have a Speaker, but turns out they don’t work that way! pic.twitter.com/bfal1fVMwP
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) January 6, 2023
What do you think about the McCarthy situation?
I don't know how he manages to get out of this. I have dealt with him as a member of the Gang of Eight, and my interactions with him have been good.
You make more concessions after the 10th or 11th vote.
I understand that people can be critical of Nancy Pelosi, but you wouldn't have thought that she would be in this situation.
People seem to be following this.
The anniversary of January 6th was two years ago. They are coming in at 10PM.
How did you decide to become a politician?
The interest in politics began for me. I graduated from college with no money, but I did raise money for Jimmy Carter's campaign as a young man. Someone went into debt after he lost a race. I didn't think that was possible. If I ever decide to have a political career, I want to get a financial base first. I didn't do well at two businesses. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.
There is a lack of tech knowledge in leaders and in the government, even though you have a technology background. What can we do to get congress to pay more attention to technology in legislation?
People are trying to do something. Most of the technology issues don't fall on the conservative side. It is more future-past than left-right. It's easier to find coalitions when that's the case. Technology competition is national security, and I have been watching it with both of them. If there is a conflict with China, I don't think it will be who has the most planes. Are you able to turn off the power?
If you have a communications medium run by the China Communist Party that has 100 million kids on it, you won't need to argue. People are concerned about China and national security and there is a willingness to compromise. Members are more willing to learn about technology and realize that we have to focus on it. It has been a change.
You mentioned that there is a company called HUAWEI. I was naive to think that when Trump left office there would be a roll back of issues. The things have not changed.
There is a national security threat posed byHuawei. Being a wireless guy scares me. I was raised in a world with many companies. All of the North American companies have left. When you have a Chinese company, you have the Chinese setting the ground rules for the international telecommunications union, which we used to dominate. We are beginning to tell other countries that it is a problem. We didn't have any other options.
Are you talking about infrastructure?
It's true. It is a soup to nuts setup. European companies that went down the path of Huawei are doing some version of rip and replace, that's a positive thing. The Chinese companies have national security risks that have grown beyond the US.
Do you think it's time to have a serious discussion about police and killer robot legislation?
I don't think about it enough. I think we make a mistake with the idea of going out and innovating and breaking things.
Break things.
Some real issues have arisen from that. We need to be involved in the standard setting of entities around the world. Your values of transparency or privacy are built upon. The human being is sometimes taken out of the decision making process with technology and artificial intelligence. I'm scared of that. How will you make sure the front end is safe? We aren't very good at it. It blows my mind that we haven't done anything on social media.
I wanted to talk about that topic with the recent news on the social networking site.
I'm a big fan of Musk.
As a pioneer in the field of technology.
It's true. My concern with him on social media is not about putting him back on social media, it is about whether or not he is going to be dependent on the Communist Party of China for all of his energy needs. His comments about the regulatory structure in China have been positive. He has made negative comments about infrastructure in Europe. I'm concerned about the influence that could come from it.
The worry is if he uses this as a platform to promote these ideas.
Negative comments about the Communist Party in China are no longer allowed on the social networking site.
There was an argument regarding free speech and how it applies to a platform run by a private sector company. He is the owner of the company.
I believe you can restrain section 230. I am not a part of the tech community. Free speech is something I support. You don't have the right to amplify it eight billion times.
Do you think the FTC should be more aggressive with acquisitions?
I agree. Some people argue that we need a stronger review. Some of the transactions could have been stopped. It would have made sense over time. Tech companies are virtual utilities, that's what you said. I am of the opinion that consumer price is the only thing that matters.
Capitalistic motives are pure.
How do you determine the price? There are people who say that Facebook is free. It isn't free They take our data and make money from it.
I will tell you that.
I'm a lot more squishy than that. People should be aware of what it is worth.
They should be aware of what data they're giving up.
It's right. We haven't had a data privacy law in this country.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
