NSI’s Cyber and Tech Center hosted a fireside chat featuring Representative Jay Obernolte (CA-23) and Royal Hansen, Google’s Vice President of Privacy, Safety, and Security Engineering, on March 5 from 12:15 to 1:15pm ET on Capitol Hill. Rep. Obernolte was recently announced as the Chairman of the new bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, which is tasked with ensuring America continues to lead the world in AI innovation while considering how to protect the nation against current and emerging threats. Royal is Google’s Vice President of Privacy, Safety and Security Engineering, where he leads the central engineering function that builds and scales the foundational technology that keeps billions of people safe online.
Rep. Obernolte, and Royal discussed how AI can help defend the nation, including enable cyber defenders to better protect U.S. critical infrastructure from foreign cyber threats and cyber criminals. They will also address how to mitigate potential security risks associated with AI and how the U.S. can fully harness this new technology to empower our nation’s cyber defenders.
Watch the full conversation, here:
Participants:
- Royal Hanson, Vice President, Privacy, Safety, and Security Engineering, Google
- Rep. Jay Obernolte (CA-23), Chairman, U.S. House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence
- Jamil N. Jaffer (moderator), Founder & Executive Director, National Security Institute
About Our Speakers:
Royal Hansen is Vice President of Security at Google, where he is responsible for driving overall information security strategy for the company’s technical infrastructure which serves billions of end-user consumers and enterprise customers. Prior to joining Google, Royal was the Executive Vice President of Enterprise IT Risk and Information Security at American Express, responsible for solutions protecting the security and integrity of the company’s technology systems and the customer, business and employee information they processed. Before American Express, Royal served as Managing Director, Technology Risk and Global Head of Application Security, Data Risk and Business Continuity Planning at Goldman Sachs. Royal was also previously at Morgan Stanley and Fidelity Investments, where he managed Enterprise IT Risk, Application Security and Disaster Recovery. Royal began his career as a software developer for Sapient before building a cyber-security practice in the financial services industry at @stake, which was acquired by Symantec. Royal holds a BA in Computer Science from Yale University. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in information sciences and Arabic language study, which he completed at the United Arab Emirates University.
U.S. Congressman Jay Obernolte proudly represents California’s 23rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. A video game developer and business owner, Rep. Obernolte is dedicated to ensuring the High Desert and Inland Empire have a strong voice fighting for their interests in Congress. Rep. Obernolte proudly serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where he is a member of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology; the Subcommittee on Health; and the Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Minerals. He also serves on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight. He is a congressional leader on artificial intelligence, and currently the only serving member of Congress with a graduate-level degree in AI. Previously, Rep. Obernolte served as a member of the California State Legislature representing the state’s 33rd Assembly District and as Mayor of the City of Big Bear Lake. He has also served on the boards of the Big Bear Lake Fire Protection District, the Mojave Desert and Mountain Integrated Waste Authority, the Mountain Regional Transit Authority, the League of California Cities Desert-Mountain Division, and the Big Bear City Airport District. In these positions he worked across partisan lines to pass legislation helping California’s hardworking families by lowering taxes, stopping government encroachment into privacy and personal liberties, and upholding law and order. He has also been a strong advocate for local veterans, defending funding for the Barstow Veterans Home and helping ensure California veterans receive the care and respect their service has earned. Rep. Obernolte lives in Big Bear Lake with his wife, Heather. They have two sons, Hale and Troy. In addition to owning a videogame development studio, Rep. Obernolte is a certified flight instructor and a teacher of martial arts. He holds a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a Doctorate in Public Administration from California Baptist University (CBU).
Jamil N. Jaffer (moderator) is the founder and executive director of the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. He previously served as chief counsel and senior adviser to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and, among other roles, as an associate counsel to President George W. Bush in the White House.