How to Actually Influence AI Policy (No Law Degree Required) — with Matthew Lipka

It takes the federal government about nine years, on average, to write a single rule — yet when the Colonial Pipeline went down, it moved in twenty days. Matthew Lipka has spent his career inside that machine: former head of federal policy at Nuro, veteran of the White House and tech policy, and the first person to get an autonomous-vehicle exemption through the U.S. Department of Transportation. He walks through how regulation actually gets made, why Congress hands its power to agencies, what emergencies reveal about how fast government can move — and how you, no law degree required, can influence the rules that will shape AI.

References

• Administrative Procedure Act (1946), 60 Stat. 237 —https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-60/pdf/STATUTE-60-Pg237.pdf
• Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 —https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section1&num=0&edition=prelim
• Executive Order 12866 (regulatory review & the "12866 meetings") —https://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/Utilities/EO_12866.pdf
• Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952) —https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep343/usrep343579/usrep343579.pdf
• Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024) —https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-451_7m58.pdf
• Long Island Care at Home v. Coke ("logical outgrowth") —https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/551/158/
• IEEPA, 50 U.S.C. § 1701 —https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title50-section1701&num=0&edition=prelim
• TSA pipeline security directive after Colonial (the "20 days"), 86 FR 38209 —https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-07-20/pdf/2021-15306.pdf
• Kids Online Safety Act, S. 2073 — bill:https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2073 · Senate vote (91–3):https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1182/vote_118_2_00221.htm
• OSHA respirable silica rule (the 19-year example), 81 FR 16286 —https://www.federalregister.gov/citation/81-FR-16286
• MAP-21 (2012) —https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/4348 · FAST Act (2015) —https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/22
• NHTSA's Zoox exemption (referenced on-screen), 91 FR 48494 —https://www.federalregister.gov/citation/91-FR-48494

Sites and tools mentioned:

• Regulations.gov (submit a comment) —https://www.regulations.gov
• The Federal Register —https://www.federalregister.gov
• RegInfo.gov (Unified Agenda; request a 12866 meeting) —https://www.reginfo.gov · meeting search:https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eom12866Search
• Waymo safety data (the 200-million-mile claim) —https://waymo.com/safety