DC weekly roundup: Sen. Warner’s nuclear solution; DC Startup & Tech Week returns; Amazon leads AI employment

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US Senator calls for AI ‘Geneva Convention’

Sen. Warner has participated in the world of tech ever since his days in the wireless industry, and it factors into how he approaches his job across the Potomac.

Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he advocates caution and cooperation around artificial intelligence in national security, and told Technical.ly it’s time for “a modern Geneva Convention around AI uses in warfare.” 

In a sit-down with reporter Kaela Roeder, Warner discussed nuclear energy for data centers, cybersecurity workforce demands and federal AI policy. “The intel world is going to use AI enormously,” he said. “That’s a huge job and economic development opportunity.

➡️ Read Kaela’s Q&A with Warner here

One-click job posts slowed tech hiring

For all the ways they help technologists, remote work opportunities appear to work against them in an insidious way: a job-seeking and hiring apparatus that renders them indistinguishable from one another. 

Malcolm Stanley, a former Cisco director caught up in layoffs that plagued the industry last year, believes the current “post-pandemic, between-recessions, pre-election, high interest rate, layoff-heavy, early generative AI environment” hurts tech workers and hiring managers alike by flooding the market with overly streamlined, poorly fit applications for limited or highly specialized jobs.

“In this highly pressurized environment randomly applying for any position feels a lot like gambling at a casino,” Stanley writes.

➡️ Learn how communities can address this dispiriting labor market dynamic here

The authoritative local tech economy resource

With so many regions leaning into the innovation economy, it’s not simple to get a clear picture of how your area stacks up. Each autumn, our newsroom corrals our resources to answer that question for Technical.ly’s markets and beyond.

Our State of the Local Tech Economy reports, led by Technical.ly CEO Chris Wink, give the authoritative analysis of the people, data and trends that make up our markets’ tech workforce and startup ecosystems — and your brand can be front and center. Check out available sponsorship and ad packages and contact sales@technical.ly for more info. It all supports our independent journalism.

➡️ Choose one region or get a discount for network-wide 

News Incubator: What else to know

• Startups and innovation ecosystems won’t grow as well as possible without quality storytelling. Like the companies themselves, this requires investment. [Technical.ly]

• McLean- and Massachusetts-HQ’d MITRE launched a new industry partnership for broader education on threats facing systems that use AI. [MITRE]

• DC Startup Week has officially rebranded as DC Startup & Tech Week. Taking place Oct. 21-25, this year’s convening (for which Technical.ly is a media partner) features a keynote from Noelle Russell of the AI Leadership Institute, as well as panelists like Consumer Technology Association CEO Gary Shapiro and Technical.ly reporter Kaela Roeder. [DCSTW/Technical.ly]

• Tysons-based NobleReach Foundation recently opened applications for its signature scholars program, which places university students and recent graduates into paid roles with government agencies or mission-driven organizations while they learn about tech policy and related economic development. [NobleReach Foundation]

 •  A lawsuit from DC’s attorney general didn’t stop CEO Rick Rudman of real estate tech company Curbio — which denies the suit’s allegations of customer exploitation — from appearing alongside of FTC Chair Lina Khan and Black Girl Ventures CEO Omi Bell (and a bunch of other folks you probably recognize) on Washingtonian’s 2024 Tech Titans roster. [Washingtonian/Technical.ly]

• The Department of Defense’s Office of Strategic Capital details criteria for loans to subsidize “critical technologies” production in its new Notice of Funding Availability. [DoD] 

•  A 7th grader from Arlington’s Kenmore Middle School is among the 30 finalists for the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. [Society for Science]

•  A Georgetown University center’s new analysis says that Amazon employs more AI workers than any S&P 500 company. [Semafor]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Maryland’s TEDCO hosts the latest monthly virtual office hours for its joint DefTech program with the state and DoD on Oct. 8. [Details here]

• Network and learn from UX leaders at UX CON’ 24 all day on Oct. 10. [Details here]

• Visit Howard University’s campus on Oct. 11 to celebrate HBCU innovation and entrepreneurship at FounderFEST DC. [Details here]

• Connect with DMV technologists and scrum masters at a Scale Agile-hosted meetup on Oct. 14. [Details here]

• Partner event: Celebrate the DMV’s innovation economy with its leading investors, founders and thought leaders from Oct. 21 to 25 during the newly renamed DC Startup and Tech Week. [Details here]

• The Northern Virginia Tech Council explores cybersecurity and defense at its Cyber Summit and Cyber50 awards on Oct. 29. [Details here]

• The local company Virtru is holding a webinar covering data-centric cybersecurity on Oct. 3. [Details here]