Featuring Dr. Carolyn Saund, Keystone Strategy, and Dr. Konrad Kollnig, Maastricht University
On February 26, 2025, UMD students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends joined us for the inaugural Tech Policy Hub Speaker Series event.
Abstract:
DeepSeek, the Chinese AI company that develops open-source Large Language Models, is disrupting the market with its low-cost and open models. Broadly, recently developed LLMs challenge U.S. tech giants, disrupt existing business models, raise geopolitical concerns, and resurface an array of AI governance issues. To make sense of recent developments, Dr. Kollnig and Dr. Saund will share insights from their perspectives across Academia and Industry. We will discuss competition, privacy, national security, intellectual property, and AI development from a comparative perspective, bringing in insights from the US, EU, and China.
Bio:
Carolyn Saund is a technical consultant at Keystone Strategy. She received her PhD in Computer Science from University of Glasgow, where her thesis focused on generative AI for socialbehavior. Prior to receiving her PhD, she was a software and AI engineer at Social Robotic company Jibo, and Emotional AI company Cogito. Carolyn now advises law firms and government agencies to navigate complex cases with a wide range of implications for the future of technology and society. Her work helps legal teams understand the technical intricacies of AI and data management systems, ensure compliance with evolving regulatory frameworks, and support enforcement efforts in the rapidly changing AI landscape.
Konrad Kollnig is Assistant Professor at the Law Faculty of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Oxford. He is funded through a competitive AiNed Fellowship and leads the RegTech4AI project that seeks to prepare the law for the age of AI. His work on Google’s market power in AI was picked up by the U.S. Department of Justice which now seeks a sale of Google’s Chrome browser. In fall, he will release his monograph titled “The App Economy: Making Sense of Platform Power in the Age of AI” that asks: how do Apple and Google use their dominance in the app economy for their bottom line, with what consequences for society, and how to respond?