Neil Chilson
Head of AI Policy
Abundance Institute
Neil Chilson is head of AI policy at the Abundance Institute.
His work focuses on technology policy, innovation policy, digital free speech, privacy, and the economics of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and online platforms. He is the author of “Getting Out of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World.”
Chilson previously served as a senior research fellow for technology and innovation at the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University and at Stand Together and the Charles Koch Institute, where he worked on reducing barriers to innovation and promoting pro-innovation regulatory policy.
Earlier, he served at the Federal Trade Commission as acting chief technologist and as attorney advisor to Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen, advising on privacy, data security, consumer protection, and competition matters and helping establish the agency’s blockchain working group.
Before entering government, he practiced telecommunications law as an associate at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP. He also held legal positions with Public Knowledge and Stein, McEwen & Bui LLP, and began his career as a software developer at Alltel Information Systems.
Chilson earned a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, a master’s in computer science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s from Harding University.
