POLITICO got it right in their story, “AI crashes Washington’s biggest party weekend” — and many landed at the Washington AI Network, the DC hub for conversation about AI from innovation to regulation, for our first TGAIFriday Lunch on Friday, April 26. The inaugural lunch also included a special interview featuring one of the world’s leading AI researchers, Joelle Pineau, vice president of AI research at Meta.
The House of 1229 featured three floors of demos of Meta’s latest AI technologies, as well as a keynote conversation between Joelle and our founder Tammy Haddad, which will be released as an upcoming episode of the Washington AI Network Podcast.
The event was filled with AI experts and thought leaders, including Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel; DC influencers; government officials from the White House to Capitol Hill, including SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman; Washington AI Network members; and leaders in media including CNN’s Pamela Brown, Washington Post tech reporter Cat Zakrzewski, MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend, Steven Overly from POLITICO Tech, and the BBC’s Sumi Somaskanda.
During the demos, guests enjoyed playing the piano and video games on the Quest 3 mixed-reality VR headset, Instagramming live on the Ray-Ban | Meta Smart Glasses, and witnessing a peek into the future of home assistance with Spotty, Meta’s AI-powered robot dog. See photos below of Spotty with actress/singer Lynda Carter, Administrator Isabel Guzman, and CNN’s Pamela Brown. Everyone received a pair of Ray-Ban | Meta smart glasses that translate text in five languages.
Throughout the weekend, guests couldn’t turn the corner without bumping into an AI leader, showcasing the growing influence of artificial intelligence on everything from national security to ride-hailing services.
SPOTTED: Guests included Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel and Maryam Mujica, Sydney Harvey from the White House Office of Public Engagement, Asad Ramzanali and Olivia Zhu from OSTP, Shannon Ricchetti of Blair House, and the Commerce Department’s Nick Schmit. The diplomatic community was represented by France’s Alexandre Mirlesse and Pascal Confavreux, Luxembourg Ambassador Nicole Bintner-Bakshian, and Senay Bulbul from the British Embassy.
Tech luminaries included former CISA chief Chris Krebs, EqualAI Founder and CEO Miriam Vogel, SSCI President Kunal Mehra, Meta’s Joel Kaplan, David Ginsberg, Andrea Saul, and Tucker Bounds; Olivia Igbokwe of AWS, and Melika Carroll from Cohere.
Capitol Hill staff included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Policy Director Jon Cardinal, Sen. Brian Schatz’s Chief of Staff Reema Dodin, Sen. Mark Warner’s Chief of Staff Elizabeth Falcone, Sen. Mitt Romney’s Chief of Staff Liz Johnson, and Leader Schumer’s National Press Secretary Allison Biasotti.
Media included Yamiche Alcindor from NBC News; Pamela Brown from CNN; Phil Rucker, Kathy O’Hearn, Naomi Nix, and Cat Zakrzewski from The Washington Post; Sara Fischer and Cuneyt Dil from Axios, Ted Johnson from Deadline; and Robert Devaney from Georgetowner.
The arts community included Julissa Marenco and Lindsay Burkholder from the Smithsonian and artist Maggie O’Neill.
DC influencers included Helen Milby, Ryan Williams, and Anthony Polcari.
See more photos and videos from the TGAIFriday Lunch below (full gallery here) and subscribe to the Washington AI Network podcast so you don’t miss the keynote conversation with Joelle.
