Why AI Is Splitting the American Right-Wing w/ The American Conservative's Luke Nicastro

👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews

Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around:https://wallstreetwindow.com/

Recorded 9-14-26

On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael speaks with Luke Nicastro, senior editor at The American Conservative and former national security advisor to Senator Josh Hawley, about the growing conservative split over artificial intelligence.

Why is AI dividing the right? Nicastro breaks down the three emerging camps: populist and socially conservative AI skeptics worried about surveillance, children, labor, and the concentration of power; techno-optimists who argue that America must develop AI as quickly as possible to beat China; and a much larger group of Republicans who have yet to settle on a clear position.

The conversation goes beyond the usual AI debate. We discuss whether AI could produce a new wave of mass labor displacement reminiscent of deindustrialization, the threat of “techno-feudalism” and Silicon Valley concentrating economic and political power, and whether ordinary workers could lose bargaining power as AI reduces the need for human labor. We also examine the national-security argument that opposition to AI development risks helping China, and whether that logic leaves any room for regulation, restraint, or cooperation with Beijing.

Could AI become an issue where populist conservatives and progressives find common ground? Nicastro discusses the surprising possibility of figures such as Josh Hawley and Steve Bannon finding areas of agreement with Democrats and progressives on AI regulation, labor, Big Tech, and economic power. We also discuss the emerging AI “slowdown” debate involving frontier AI companies and what it could mean for the future of the technology.

Finally, we zoom out to a larger question facing American conservatism: What exactly are conservatives trying to conserve? Is the future of the right about preserving the existing market order, or restoring older ideas about family, community, labor, and social stability? Nicastro and J.G. Michael also discuss the changing conservative approach to China, realism and restraint in foreign policy, and the broader struggle over what comes after Trump.

Topics include: AI and the Republican Party, conservative AI skepticism, AI regulation, Josh Hawley, Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Silicon Valley, techno-op