EFF-Austin/Austin Science Network present: AI and Cybersecurity 2026

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BIOS:
Owen McNally is the Founder of the Austin Science Network and a PhD with decades of work in fields including healthcare technology development, personal data protection/cybersecurity, IT systems testing, usability/UX, cognitive science, psychology, biotech, and applied research for businesses.

Xander Smith is a Platform Engineer who has made a career out of turning obstinate legacy monoliths into resilient container flocks. Over the last 14 years, he has Terraform‑ed AWS accounts into dependable deployment platforms and automated ancient software tasks. In the current AI boom, he builds Agents that can safely take over tedious operational minutiae. Ask him about using esoteric programming languages to elucidate software concepts or examples of containers before Docker.

Kevin Welch is the president of EFF-Austin, a digital civil liberties organization that works to educate the public and politicians about important legal and cultural issues confronting society in emerging technological spaces. He has spoken at diverse venues on these topics including the Austin City Council, The Austin Technology Commission, The Texas Legislature, SXSW, State Department international delegations, and to members of the European Parliament. He has been a leader in the Austin-based No ALPRs coalition that has successfully fought against Automatic License Plate Readers and other surveillance technologies in the Austin area.

TALK SUMMARY:
Summer 2026 is buzzing with developments and commentary about AI risks and cybersecurity, especially the June 2026 US Government export control directive that suspends all access to Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models by any non US citizen or a foreign national, including Anthropic employees (this was followed by a partial-reverse order suspending access to Anthropic top models late in June). The Fable 5 model has guardrails as it "includes safety classifiers that can decline requests" while Claude Mythos 5 "does not include these classifiers." Meanwhile, open-source AI models such as from OpenRouter and DeepSeek, seek to gain adherence in an increasingly expensive and regulated AI world. In addition, the spectacular sums spent on capex (capital expenditures) by organizations on AI stimulates markets even as it both tempts worries investors. Speculation is swirling about these developments relative to hackers and cyber-risk, humans losing control of AI, geopolitics and the possibly massive IPO's coming for AI companies, making sober discernment more necessary than ever.

EFF Austin and Austin Science Network fearlessly dive into the thicket and present a public discussion on AI and cybersecurity. Our event featuring senior technologists is moderated by Owen McNally, with Kevin Welch and Xander Smith serving as panelists and sensemakers. The broader Austin community is encouraged to listen and contribute via Q&A to this timely discussion of red-hot controversies. Afterwards, a cafe visit is open to all.

www.effaustin.org
www.austinsciencenetwork.com

HOW TO ATTEND:
Our meetup is at FUTO Open Repair Workshop, 2410 San Antonio St, Austin, TX 78705. When you arrive, you go through the center door facing the street and up the stairs. We are in the big event hall on the 2nd floor.
There a few free parking spaces in front of the building, as well as metered street parking. There is also a UT Garage, San Antonio Garage, right next door, where parking is $3/hr.