How AI Regulation Could Help the Public—and Investors Too | WSJ’s Take On the Week

Could artificial intelligence surpass the internet in its transformative power? Jonathan Kanter, former assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice under President Joe Biden, suggests it might and talks about the challenge of creating effective regulation—offering insights on shareholder value, company valuations, and overall market impact. On this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Telis Demos and Miriam Gottfried examine the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and the complex path toward regulating it. They discuss with Kanter why meaningful AI oversight relies on a functional Congress, how the Supreme Court's "major questions doctrine" creates hurdles for regulatory agencies, and why ensuring AI safety carries even higher stakes than regulating the early version of the internet. But first, our hosts analyze SpaceX’s recent earnings report, driven up by its massive AI potential and a possible merger with Tesla. They also unpack the volatility in the nascent market for AI-backed corporate bonds. News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, has a content-licensing partnership with OpenAI. Chapters: 00:19 - Intro: The AI regulation picture 02:15 - SpaceX earnings and the Tesla merger 04:04 - AI bonds and debt markets 07:11 - States, data centers, and federal regulation 08:31 - Interview with Jonathan Kanter begins 12:48 - Why Congress struggles to regulate 14:09 - Politics of data centers 17:29 - Duties of care and loyalty 21:38 - Would regulation have hurt the Internet? 22:37 - Closing the government knowledge gap 24:32 - Liability and investors 25:52 - Why AI leaders say "slow down" 28:19 - Circular financing and antitrust 29:57 - Competing with China 31:05 - Existential risk vs. real harms This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Telis Demos, writer for WSJ’s Heard on the Street, and Miriam Gottfried, WSJ’s investing and wealth management reporter, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. 🎧 Prefer just the audio version? Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts: https://on.wsj.com/3LBGo5Q?mod=WSJ_TOTWPOD #WSJ #AI #Regulation