Conversational Touchpoints

Potential discussion topics for meeting preparation, organized by domain.

AI Governance & Anthropic

  • His view on how AV regulatory experience translates to AI governance
  • The "trust race vs. tech race" framework from the Harvard ALI article
  • Anthropic's approach to responsible scaling and frontier AI safety
  • Brian Israel's evolution from GC to CLO and what that signals about legal function growth
  • How the Cruise experience with NHTSA/DMV informs his thinking on AI regulatory engagement

Product Liability & Autonomous Systems

  • Federal preemption questions for autonomous systems (directly relevant to Steven's research)
  • His experience with liability allocation in AV context at Cruise
  • The PG&E bankruptcy as a case study in mass tort/product liability management
  • Views on Section 230 evolution and AI-generated content liability
  • How "continuous improvement" of AI systems affects traditional product liability frameworks

Democracy & Institutional Resilience

  • The Machiavelli book project — when is publication expected?
  • His analysis of court-stripping strategies in "Bluff Justice"
  • The legal profession's response to executive pressure on law firms
  • Lessons from observing democratic resilience (or fragility) in Australia vs. US
  • The Jeff Bleich Centre's research agenda at Flinders

Professional & Personal

  • The Obama connection — longtime friendship, recruiting story with Abner Mikva
  • State Bar presidency and California legal community leadership
  • Australia connections: US Studies Centre fellowship, Flinders Centre, honorary degrees
  • Rehnquist clerkship experience and its influence on his jurisprudential outlook
  • Willie Mays friendship and Say Hey Foundation trusteeship
  • Hong Yen Chang case as exemplar of meaningful pro bono impact

—   — Potential Sensitivities

  • 2018 Lt. Governor campaign (lost Democratic primary to Eleni Kounalakis)
  • PG&E role during wildfire liability period — complex public perception
  • Cruise safety incidents and regulatory challenges during his CLO tenure
  • Strongly expressed political views in Persuasion articles may not align with all interlocutors