Tusk Ventures: The federal government won’t do much actual AI regulation

[Image of people walking in a high-speed data space using AI]
Hiroshi Watanabe

Investor Bradley Tusk sees promising investment opportunities emerging from the regulatory landscape surrounding artificial intelligence, following his firm’s successful early bet on cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COIN]).

In an interview with CNBC, Tusk noted that Coinbase shares (COIN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COIN]) have surged nearly 550% since their June debut, triggering a wave of IPO (IPO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IPO]) activity alongside the president’s new crypto legislation [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4468987-trump-signs-landmark-stablecoin-bill-into-law-as-expected].

Tusk’s venture firm, which focuses on regulatory challenges, entered Coinbase (COIN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COIN]) at a $2B valuation, and it has since grown to approximately $48B. “It is an example of venture working, but even when venture works, you’re really looking at almost a guaranteed ten-year time horizon,” Tusk explained in the interview, highlighting the patience required for venture investments.

Tusk Ventures has also invested in Lemonade (FMND), FanDuel (DUEL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DUEL]), Circle (CRCL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CRCL]), and cryptocurrencies such as Ripple (XRP-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XRP-USD]), and dub (DUB-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DUB-USD]), among others.

While crypto has been lucrative, Tusk identifies artificial intelligence as the next major investment frontier.

“Ultimately, the biggest thing is AI,” he stated, pointing to a surprising regulatory trend: “I don’t think the federal government is going to do that much actual regulation of AI… where it’s happening is at the state level. In 2025, over 800 different bills were introduced across the 50 states to regulate AI in different ways.”

This developing “weird patchwork of regulations industry by industry, state by state” presents both challenges and opportunities for investors skilled in regulatory navigation. Beyond AI, Tusk revealed his firm is diversifying into education investments, backing companies like Odyssey (OMEX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/OMEX]) and Lumion that serve expanding markets in school choice and vocational training.

Nuclear energy (NLR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NLR]), (NUKZ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NUKZ]) and prediction markets also interest Tusk’s team as promising sectors. For cryptocurrency investments, Tusk emphasized looking beyond current market momentum: “We have to see a crypto founder who has a new idea that hasn’t been done yet… because ultimately we’re looking at a seven-to-ten-year time frame.”

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