By JODY GODOY Reuters
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has named a former tech policy researcher from the conservative Heritage Foundation as its chief technology officer.

Jake Denton, who graduated from American University in 2021, announced his appointment to the FTC in a post on X on Monday.

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He replaces Stephanie Nguyen, who had been appointed in 2022 under former FTC Chair Lina Khan.

The FTC first hired a chief technologist during the Obama administration to advise on emerging tech policy issues.

Denton comes to the FTC as the agency’s new chairman, Andrew Ferguson, begins to build his agenda. Ferguson previously expressed concern about Big Tech companies dominating digital markets and public forums, but said regulators should be wary of impeding U.S. innovation.

Denton said in a Fox News interview in July 2023 that Congress should pass artificial intelligence legislation. An opinion piece that he co-wrote with the Heritage Foundation’s tech policy director and published by Fox News in October called for greater U.S. involvement in international AI standard-setting efforts.

“If America and freedom-loving nations don’t write the rules of the road for emerging technologies like AI, authoritarians will do it for us,” Denton and Kara Frederick, the Heritage tech policy director, wrote.

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — largely seen as a policy blueprint for the Trump administration — laid out ways antitrust enforcers can champion conservative causes while also questioning whether the FTC should continue to exist.