Aalok Mehta

Director, Wadhwani AI Center
Aalok Mehta

Aalok Mehta currently serves as the director of the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he oversees the program’s projects and research on a wide range of AI policy topics. He previously served as the responsible AI policy lead at Google, where he oversaw policy development and analysis for a wide range of global AI governance, testing, evaluation, and legislative issues. Prior to that, he served as senior adviser to SeedAI and was OpenAI’s U.S. policy lead, where he ran policy operations during the launches of DALL-E 2 and ChatGPT. Previously, as a senior appropriations staffer in the House of Representatives, he oversaw a portfolio of technology, cybersecurity, and financial regulators. Mehta worked on emerging technologies, including AI, 5G, and autonomous vehicles, at the National Economic Council and the Office of Management and Budget, and advised senior leadership on wireless and competition issues at the Federal Communications Commission. He is a 2025 presidential leadership scholar and a 2023 Eisenhower USA fellow, for which he traveled to India and Sweden to study social safety net programs that can help manage technology-driven job shifts. He has a PhD from the University of Southern California, where his dissertation focused on U.S.-China AI great power competition, as well as an MA and MPP; he also has a BA from Rice University. Prior to working in public policy, he served as a technology journalist for a variety of outlets in Washington, D.C., including National Geographic and the Washington Post.

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Unpacking the Data Center Backlash with Jasmine Sun

In this episode of the AI Policy Podcast, Wadhwani AI Center director Aalok Mehta is joined by writer Jasmine Sun for a conversation about nationwide backlash to the AI infrastructure buildout.

Event — October 8, 2026

Takeaways from the Trump-Xi White House Summit

CSIS experts assess the outcomes of the Trump-Xi White House summit in September 2026 and what it means for the future of U.S.-China relations.

Commentary by CSIS Scholars — September 28, 2026