True. As FTC CTO, his able past work in privacy and data security was certainly relevant to traditional FTC interests. As Deputy US CTO, I think his agenda has broadened.

There's already a ton of gov't interest/activity on surveillance and security issues, mostly via the military services and adjuncts. I assume this initiative ain't more of that.

This announcement seems to presage greater federal gov't interest and involvement in how computing might be used toward less defensive/clandestine ends, especially in governance (social good), control, and safety, as well as legal implications -- adding AI as the means to serving gov't ends, so to speak.

If so, great. I'd love to see greater OPEN use of computing in government, especially in gathering unbiased metrics and making better use of them to evaluate the outcome of changes in policy.