Photo courtesy of Laurel Witt (Law'17). View more of Laurel's photography @laurelwitt on Instagram.

Brad Bernthal

Executive Director, Silicon Flatirons

Associate Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School

2023 Startup Summer Program concludes. This year’s program featured 35 undergraduate students who worked across nine different teams. Participating students, who work in summer internships with emerging companies, completed the full Startup Summer entrepreneurial curriculum.  In the program’s finale, each team pitched their company to a panel of seasoned entrepreneurial judges as well as 130 attendees. More on Startup Summer here. 

DC Scholars Program sends 12 students to work on policy matters in DC. Silicon Flatirons' robust summer program placed 12 Colorado Law students in Washington D.C., including six positions that were supplemented through Hatfield Scholarship stipends. Placements include NTIA, FCC, Public Knowledge, DOC, Echostar, Verizon, Wiley Rein, and Hogan Lovells. More on DC and Hatfield Scholars Program here.

Community reception hosted by DLA Piper. Special thank you to Senior Fellow Ariel Diamond West for helping organize a terrific summer event with 70 attendees. The reception highlighted current DC Scholar participants and brought together SFC friends and alumni. 

Startup Variety Show Celebrates One-Year Anniversary. The monthly Variety Show, which spotlights creators including entrepreneurs, researchers, and non-profit leaders, now ranks among the Colorado’s leading events, attracting 100-125 attendees from the emerging company community. The anniversary show included Gregg Spiridellis, co-founder of the seven-time Emmy Award-winning company StoryBots.

The Future of Startup Finance: A Symposium on Investment Crowdfunding.

This stimulating Symposium, held in September 2023, highlighted  and examined ideas from Investment Crowdfunding (Oxford Press), the debut book by CU Law Professor and Fulbright Scholar Andrew A. Schwartz.

Participants from five continents join together to learn from Silicon Flatirons experts. Led by Senior Fellow Gabor Molnar and Spectrum Initiative Co-Director Dale Hatfield, the ATLAS Institute hosted regulators from around the globe for a week-long USTTI course in July 2023. Silicon Flatirons participants included Keith Gremban and Brad Bernthal, as well as founding Executive Director Phil Weiser. More on the USTTI program here.

The AI Ethics lecture series returns for a second year with new topics and featured speakers. Professor Harry Surden kicked off the first of this four-session series with a discussion on Generative Artificial Intelligence and Access to Justice. View the video presentation here.

Startup Variety Show returns for fall semester. The September Variety Show packed the courtroom with a record breaking number of attendees.

October 6

Generative AI and Copyright Conference

October 24

AI Ethics Series

October 17

Startup Variety Show

November 8

A Look Ahead to Access and Regulation in the Not-Too-Distant Broadband Future

Keith Gremban — Co-director, Spectrum Policy Initiative, Silicon Flatirons

• Along with colleague, Dr. Tamara Lehman (EECE), invited to present on 8/10/2023 to the FCC Office of Engineering Technology (OET) seminar series on the NSF/OUSD(R&E) GHOST (5G Hidden Operations through Securing Traffic) Phase 1 project.

• With CU Boulder Team, secures $5M NSF grant to enhance 5G security as Phase 2 of the GHOST project (article) (video).

Blake Reid — Director, Telecom and Platforms Initiative, Silicon Flatirons

• Forthcoming publication: Uncommon Carriage, Stanford Law Review, Vol. 76, 2024.

• Receives H. Latham Breunig Humanitarian Award from TDI.

Harry Surden — Director, Artificial Intelligence Initiative, Silicon Flatirons, discusses the intersection of artificial intelligence and the law in inaugural edition of #ColoradoLawOfficeHours. What is the Deal with AI and the #sag #aftrastrike, Colorado Law Instagram (video).

October 12

Authors Alliance Workshop — Legal Issues in Computational Research Using Text and Data Mining

This workshop will survey existing law and policy, and highlight pathways forward for researchers, including fair use and text and data mining-specific exemptions to copyright, particularly for users of materials covered by digital rights management (DRM) and similar technologies. We will also discuss limitations of the law and explore ways in which it might be improved. Learn more here.

Silicon Flatirons exists thanks to the generosity of our supporters and the strength of our community. We rely on their contributions to advance our mission to catalyze policymaking and innovation and to develop the next generation of tech lawyers, policy experts, and entrepreneurs.

Want to learn more about becoming an official supporter? Click the donate button or contact sfdevelopment@colorado.edu.

Intellectual honesty is critical. Good debate and thinking require it. Thus, while we are fully funded by our generous supporters, our programming and initiatives remain staunchly unbiased and objective.

Founded in 1999 by Phil Weiser, Colorado’s current Attorney General, the center is a recognized leader in interdisciplinary events and programs. We serve students, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and professionals, and support the joint missions of Colorado Law on teaching, scholarship, and public service.

Although technology and innovation have evolved radically over two decades, our purpose remains the same: to convene multi-stakeholder discussions, support innovation, and develop the next generation of technology lawyers, policy experts, and entrepreneurs. Explore the center’s history.

For more about our initiatives, upcoming events, programs, publications, media, and student opportunities, visit our website at siliconflatirons.org and follow our socials.