Joshua “J.B.” Branch is the Director of Federal AI Governance and Technology Policy at Public Citizen, where he leads advocacy on artificial intelligence, consumer protection, data governance, digital rights, and emerging technology policy.
His work focuses on how law and public institutions should respond to the growing power of AI systems and large technology firms, with particular attention to democratic accountability, civil rights, child safety, and the public consequences of automated decision-making. He has testified before Congress, advised lawmakers and public officials, and drafted policy materials used across federal and state technology debates. Branch has written and spoken extensively on AI accountability, platform governance, digital privacy, algorithmic harms, and the ways emerging technologies increasingly shape democratic life. His recent work has included federal advocacy on AI legislation, agency oversight, child online safety, procurement governance, and public-interest responses to generative AI deployment.
He has also contributed to scholarship and public writing on constitutional questions raised by digital systems, including surveillance, compelled access, and the concentration of private technological power. His writing has been published in The Washington Post, Issues in Science and Technology, Yale Journal on Regulation, Tech Policy Press, Euractiv, Project Syndicate, among others. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Center for Public Leadership Gleitsman and MIT-Harvard AI Safety Fellow, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center where he was a Public Interest Law Scholar. He has held leadership and advisory roles across civil rights, justice reform, disability rights, and technology policy. His current writing includes a book project examining how major technology companies increasingly function as governing institutions in modern democratic life. In his spare time, he (tries) to practice mindfulness, gaming, 40+ mile bike rides (or shorter), is an avid Philadelphia and Penn State sports fan, and has a dream of one day being on Family Feud.