Cybersecurity & Tech

Scaling Laws: AI Chatbots and the Future of Free Expression with Jacob Mchangama and Jacob Shapiro

Renée DiResta, Alan Z. Rozenshtein, Jacob Mchangama, Jacob N. Shapiro
Tuesday, December 16, 2025, 10:00 AM

Renée DiResta, Lawfare contributing editor and associate research professor at Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy, and Alan Z. Rozenshtein, Lawfare senior editor and associate professor of law the University of Minnesota, spoke with Jacob Mchangama, research professor of political science at Vanderbilt University and founder of The Future of Free Speech, and Jacob Shapiro, the John Foster Dulles Professor of International Affairs at Princeton University.

The conversation covered the findings of a new report examining how AI models handle contested speech; comparative free speech regulations across six jurisdictions; empirical testing of how major chatbots respond to politically sensitive prompts; and the tension between free expression principles and concerns about manipulation in AI systems.


Renée DiResta is an Associate Research Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown. She is a contributing editor at Lawfare.
Alan Z. Rozenshtein is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School, Research Director and Senior Editor at Lawfare, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he served as an Attorney Advisor with the Office of Law and Policy in the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland. He also speaks and consults on technology policy matters.
Jacob Mchangama is the Founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech. He is also a research professor at Vanderbilt University and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
Jacob N. Shapiro is a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University and director of the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not reflect the position of any organization.
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