Ben Schifman

Senior Technology Fellow, Institute for Progress

  • Ben Schifman is a Senior Technology Fellow at the Institute for Progress, where he focuses on energy, infrastructure, and emerging technology policy. His research explores the intersection between AI policy and "physical world" regulatory frameworks, with a particular emphasis on removing barriers to the deployment of critical infrastructure and energy systems necessary for US AI leadership. He also focuses on regulatory approaches to ensuring security of AI systems.

    Previously, Ben served as an Attorney-Adviser at the U.S. Department of the Interior, where he advised on complex energy development issues. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment & Natural Resources Division. During his tenure at the DOJ, he litigated high-stakes infrastructure cases, defended federal agencies in complex permitting matters, and served as the Division’s NEPA coordinator.

    Ben holds a J.D. with honors from Columbia Law School, where he was a James Kent Scholar and a Senior Editor of the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law. He received his B.A. in Political Science and Environmental Science from Lewis & Clark College.

  • Possible topics:

    • AI Infrastructure & Permitting: Analyzing and reforming regulatory bottlenecks (such as NEPA) that hinder the construction of energy infrastructure, data centers and semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

    • Energy Abundance for Compute: Developing policy strategies to accelerate clean energy deployment to meet the massive power demands of future AI systems.

    • National Defense & Industrial Policy: Using tools like the Defense Production Act (DPA) to secure AI hardware supply chains and bolster national security, and prepare for crises.

    • AI Crisis Preparedness: Designing legal and regulatory frameworks to ensure infrastructure resilience in the face of emerging technology risks and global crises.

    • Administrative Law & Innovation: Investigating how executive branch authorities can be utilized to speed up technology transfer and infrastructure development.

    • Legal Background: Current law students, practicing attorneys, or individuals with a strong demonstrated aptitude for law and policy analysis are preferred.

    • Regulatory Fluency: Interest in administrative law, environmental regulations (NEPA, ESA), and statutory frameworks governing US infrastructure.

    • Analytical Rigor: Ability to parse complex statutes and regulations to identify novel policy levers or barriers.

    • Research & Writing: Strong capability to produce high-quality legal memos, policy briefs, or regulatory comments.

    • Mission Alignment: A clear interest in ensuring the US maintains leadership in AI through robust physical infrastructure, energy abundance, and effective defense policy.