What is happening with AI, and what are our governments doing about it?

Benjamin D. Trump

Associate Professor, NC State University 

3170 Plant Sciences Building Innovation Hub + Zoom | AI policy has become considerably less hypothetical in 2026. Europe began enforcing major provisions of the AI Act in August. In Washington, the White House is pressing for a national AI framework and limits on state regulation. States are writing their own rules, communities are confronting the demands of new AI infrastructure, and governments everywhere are trying to decide which problems require intervention before the technology changes again.

This talk takes stock of what has happened, what governments seem worried about, and what they are doing about it. Trump will compare several emerging approaches to AI governance, with particular attention to the United States and European Union, and ask what each approach is designed to achieve. Consumer protection? Faster innovation? National advantage? Fewer catastrophic surprises? A press release demonstrating that somebody is on top of this? The convergence of AI and biotechnology adds further uncertainty and regulatory complexity, magnifying decades-old policy challenges as deep learning accelerates technological development.

AI gives us an unusually visible case of governments trying to govern a powerful technology while its capabilities, applications, economics, and politics are still moving. For the GES community, that raises a familiar and useful question: which governance tools can keep up with emerging technology, and which ones mostly generate paperwork?

About the speaker

Dr. Benjamin D. Trump is an Associate Professor at NC State University, joining the Genetic Engineering and Society Cluster in 2026 through the Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program. His work centers on organizational and societal resilience, decision-making for defense, the risk governance of emerging technologies, and critical infrastructure. For his contributions, President Biden awarded him a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in January 2025, the highest federal honor for early-career researchers.

Dr. Trump served as a U.S. Embassy Science Fellow in Turkmenistan, focusing on multilateral water security, and has also worked in Iraq, Jordan, Ukraine and Libya. He is President of the Society for Risk Analysis and has contributed to numerous organizations, including USAID, the World Bank, NATO Science for Peace and Security, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, OECD, and the International Risk Governance Council. Dr. Trump has published nine books and more than 100 peer-reviewed papers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as an emergency responder for two years, earning the U.S. Army Civilian Medal for Humanitarian Service and Army Superior Civilian Service Award for hands-on work that saved many lives in his area of responsibility. Dr. Trump holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Related links:

• The time window before biological AI spreads , Trump et al., EMBO Reports , 2026
• Biotechnology and AI: Technological Convergence and Information Hazards , Conference proceedings from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop. Editors: Cummings, Trump , et al., 2026 [ Access via NCSU Libraries > ]
• Governing the AI–biotech convergence , Trump et al., EMBO Reports , 2026

__ Recorded from NC State’s GES Colloquium, this podcast examines how biotechnologies take shape in the world: microbiome engineering in built environments, gene editing and gene drives, forest and agricultural genomics, data governance and equity, risk and regulation, sci-art, and public engagement in practice.

Genetic Engineering and Society Center

Colloquium Home | Zoom Registration | Watch Colloquium Videos | LinkedIn | Newsletter

GES Center at NC State University—Integrating scientific knowledge & diverse public values in shaping the futures of biotechnology.

Produced by Patti Mulligan, Communications Director, GES Center, NC State

Find out more at https://ges-center-lectures-ncsu.pinecast.co