Ep. 117: China, the Control of the Internet, and the New Cold War with Jacob Helberg

Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk

"China wasn't trying to hack the product per se. They were trying to use products in unanticipated ways to undermine trust in democracy and in the democratic system of government."

Jacob Helberg is here, with his new book in hand The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power. China is on our minds lately. Are we friends? Enemies? Foes? Are we at peace? At war? Helberg posits we are not on the brink of a Cold War with China— we are in the midst of one. With American sovereignty hanging in the balance, how can ordinary citizens who are concerned do something? What does China really want, and how can Washington and Silicon Valley partner together to ensure American corporations and individuals do not inadvertently became pawns? Disturbing and thought-provoking to be sure….

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Jacob Helberg is a senior adviser at the Stanford University Center on Geopolitics and Technology and an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Helberg is also co-chairing the Brookings Institution China Strategy Working Group, where is helping support and lead research efforts focused on China’s intentions, foreign policy, and what the right long-term U.S. strategy should be to meet the challenge. Helberg is also a co-chair of the Brookings Institution U.S.-France Working Group on China, focused on reinvigorating the transatlantic alliance and the bilateral U.S.-France relationship vis-à-vis the global advance of autocracy and the rise of China. He is a senior member of the National Security Action Network and a member of the Manufacturing Leadership Council at the National Association of Manufacturers. From 2016 to 2020, Helberg led Google’s internal global product policy efforts to combat disinformation and foreign interference. As a policy adviser, Helberg led the implementation of Google’s most complex global news policy initiatives. These included the company’s global policy and enforcement processes against state-backed foreign interference, misinformation, and actors undermining election integrity. Prior to joining Google, Jacob was a member of the founding team of GeoQuant, a geopolitical risk forecasting technology company backed by Swiss Re’s venture capital arm, one of the world’s largest reinsurers. Helberg graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in international affairs from the George Washington University. During his time as an undergraduate, he helped launch a development program in Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, which received praise from officials from French Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Department of State. Helberg spent a semester at Sciences Po Paris, a prestigious higher education institution and the alma mater of the last five French presidents, including President Macron. Helberg received his M.S. in cybersecurity risk and strategy from New York University.