- Economics
- History
- Political Philosophy
- Politics, Institutions, and Public Opinion
- Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
- Revitalizing American Institutions
- Revitalizing History
The Department of War wanted to deploy Anthropic’s Claude for “all lawful use.” What begins as a policy dispute over the use of AI between a tech company and the Department of War quietly unfolds into something far more unsettling. Listen as Dean Ball and EconTalk's Russ Roberts trace the collision between Anthropic and the federal government over Claude's use in classified military operations, exploring thorny questions about autonomous weapons, domestic mass surveillance, and whether a private company can demand contractual red lines when it comes to national security. The conversation spirals outward through the erosion of constitutional norms, the decay of institutional trust, the blurred line between public and private power, and the frightening possibility that AI's most powerful capabilities may arrive just as the Republic is least equipped to govern it.
Listen to the episode here.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dean Woodley Ball is a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, a policy fellow at Fathom, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School, and author of the AI-focused newsletter Hyperdimensional. His work focuses on technological change, institutional evolution, and the future of governance.
Prior to this, he served as senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence and emerging technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he was the primary staff drafter of America’s AI Action Plan. During his time in government, he also served as a strategic advisor for AI at the National Science Foundation, and co-chair of the National AI Research Resource Pilot Steering Committee, the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Machine Learning and AI, and the General Services Administration’s AI Community of Practice.
RELATED SOURCES
- Dean Ball. “Dean Ball’s Website.” Dean Ball official website.
- The Foundation for American Innovation. Foundation for American Innovation official website.
- Fathom. Fathom official website.
- Dean Ball. “Hyperdimensional. Hyperdimensional Substack.
- Deam Ball, “Clawed.” Hyperdimensional Substack, March 2, 2026.
- “AI Action Plan.” AI.gov.
- Yuval Levin, EconTalk epsiodes. EconTalk.
- Huizinga, Johan. Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. (1971).
