Publications: Daniel Castro

In a letter to the Financial Times, Daniel Castro argues that Europe’s push for “digital sovereignty,” exemplified by France replacing Zoom and Teams with a domestic platform, risks fragmenting the transatlantic digital ecosystem and weakening security and efficiency, and that true resilience comes from interoperable systems, shared rules, and cooperation among allied countries.

Governments are entering a critical phase in the adoption of AI. It is already contributing to everyday public sector work, and the question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to do so both effectively and responsibly. The Public Sector AI Adoption Index 2026 focuses on the human side of AI adoption, examining how it is experienced by public servants every day.

The TikTok deal shows that targeted structural safeguards can address data security risks without banning foreign apps outright. It also highlights unresolved challenges around reciprocity, uneven enforcement, and how governments should handle other Chinese tech platforms going forward.

The Grok bikini controversy highlights real harms from AI misuse, but it also shows that the right response is enforcing existing laws, holding bad actors accountable, and pursuing tech-neutral, proportionate policies—rather than rushing into broad, AI-specific regulation that risks undermining free expression and innovation.

If the year ahead in technology and innovation policy lives up to its potential, it could be a consequential one because there is a long list of important issues on the table. Herein, we offer 10 that are on top of our minds.

The Internet may be forever, but regulatory frameworks should not be. Decisions made today about web crawling will help determine where the next generation of AI leadership emerges—whether in Europe, the United States, or elsewhere.

U.S. semiconductor export controls swing unpredictably between administrations, undermining innovation and security. The solution is a clear, bipartisan strategy that narrowly restricts the most sensitive technologies while allowing U.S. chipmakers to compete globally.

The Trump administration’s decision to allow H200 chip sales to China is strategically sound because it keeps Chinese firms reliant on U.S. technology, supports American chipmakers’ R&D, and preserves U.S. competitive advantage, though imposing a 25 percent fee undermines these benefits.

iRobot’s collapse and sale to a Chinese firm illustrate how blocking domestic consolidation in the name of antitrust can weaken U.S. technology leadership and ultimately undermine national competitiveness.

The European Commission’s proposed tweaks to the ePrivacy Directive offer only minor relief from intrusive cookie prompts, but to truly support innovation, free digital services, and Europe’s competitiveness, policymakers must fundamentally overhaul the outdated consent model.