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An Evening with Jake Tapper: Race Against Terror

A book conversation with Jake Tapper, CNN anchor and author, and Javed Ali, Associate Professor, Ford School

6:30 PM | Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025

Annenberg Auditorium | Gerald R. Ford School
735 S State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Registration for this event is now full. Please join our wait list.

This is an in-person event.
The event will also be livestreamed here.

Join Jake Tapper in conversation with Javed Ali as they discuss Tapper’s newly released nonfiction thriller, “Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War.” With the rigor of investigative reporting, Tapper follows two U.S. attorneys racing to prosecute an al Qaeda operative after a 2011 confession and traces the global hunt for justice in a dramatic, little-known case of the War on Terror. Hear how prosecutors, soldiers, and intelligence agents worked across continents — and what this case reveals about the threats we still face today. 

Signed copies of Tapper’s newly released book, “Race Against Terror,” will be available for purchase at the event by bookseller Literati.

About Jake Tapper

Jake Tapper is a CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent. Jake Tapper joined the network in January 2013. Tapper currently anchors a two-hour weekday program, “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” which debuted in March 2013. He has hosted CNN’s Sunday morning show, “State of the Union,” since June 2015. In April 2021, he became the lead anchor for CNN for Washington, D.C. events. In addition to Tapper’s reporting, he is also the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including “Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War” and “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor,” as well as three novels “The Hellfire Club,” “The Devil May Dance,” and” All the Demons Are Here.”

About Javed Ali

Javed Ali is an associate professor of practice at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. He joined the Weiser Diplomacy Center in 2021. Ali brings more than 20 years of professional experience in national security and intelligence issues in Washington, D.C. He writes and provides commentary across a number of media sites and platforms, including MSNBC, CBS, CNN, ABC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Hill, and Newsweek.

Co-Sponsors
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Weiser Diplomacy Center

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“Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI”

As Artificial Intelligence claims increasing influence over our lives, it’s easy to believe AI’s creeping dominance is inevitable. But is it?

Join award-winning journalist Karen Hao and Patrick Barry, clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan Law School, for an eye-opening discussion on Hao’s best-selling book, “Empire of AI.”

As the first reporter to gain extensive access to OpenAI when its founder, Sam Altman, promoted it as an altruistic research non-profit, Hao has followed the company’s meteoric rise. Drawing on seven years of reporting across five continents, Hao sheds light on the hidden impacts of AI —  from the exploitation of data workers in the Global South to the immense environmental costs of its energy and water consumption. Discover whose priorities are being advanced, whose voices are overlooked, and how we can work together to build a more equitable future for the world with AI.

“Empire of AI” will be available for purchase from BookSweet at the event. The author will stay for a short book signing after the program.

About the speaker
Karen Hao is an author and award-winning journalist covering the intersections of AI and society. She is a contributor to The Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series, a program training thousands of journalists around the world on how to cover AI. Previously, she was a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and a senior editor at MIT Technology Review. Hao was recognized with an American National Magazine Award in 2022 for “outstanding achievement for magazine journalists under the age of 30,” and an American Humanist Media Award in 2024. Her book, “The Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI,” was published in May 2025 and was an instant New York Times bestseller.

About the moderator
Patrick Barry is a clinical assistant professor and the director of digital academic initiatives at the University of Michigan Law School, as well as a visiting lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School and the UCLA School of Law. His research interests include persuasion, creativity, team dynamics, and artificial intelligence. He is the author of twelve books and has created several online series for the educational platform Coursera, including “Good with Words: Writing and Editing” and “AI for Lawyers and Other Advocates.” 

Co-Sponsors:
Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) Program
U-M School of Information
Dissonance Event Series
Information and Technology Services
Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing (ESC)

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