Hilal Aka
Policy Analyst
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Hilal Aka is a policy analyst at ITIF, focusing on U.S. tech competitiveness. Previously, she interned with the Center for a New American Security's technology and national security program and was an economic consultant on antitrust and competition matters at Charles River Associates.
She holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College with a double major in economics and mathematics. She is currently pursuing a master in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and a juris doctorate at Georgetown University, focusing on emerging technologies and national security.
Research Areas
Recent Publications
The Global Spread of Protectionist Policies That Squeeze American Tech Companies
A growing proliferation of antitrust regulations, content-moderation requirements, data-localization mandates, digital service taxes, exorbitant fines and fees, and local content requirements reveals a clear pattern: They are designed to unfairly burden and extract revenue from American Big Tech.
What Vance Left Unsaid in Paris: America’s AI Leadership Hinges on Big Tech Leadership
Vice President Vance was right to warn against stifling AI innovation with excessive regulation, but the Trump administration must go further by pushing back against policies like the EU’s Digital Markets Act and similar U.S. regulatory efforts that undermine American tech leadership. To maintain global competitiveness, the U.S. should support its leading tech companies, ensuring they have the scale and capital needed to drive AI and technological advancements, rather than subjecting them to restrictive regulations that benefit foreign competitors.
Why Is the FTC Working With Temu While China Advances in AI?
The DeepSeek breakthrough does not vindicate or discredit antitrust policies but is a wake-up call. Rather than celebrating moves to hobble its tech ecosystem, the United States needs a coherent national strategy that leverages all American innovative capabilities to ensure U.S. AI leadership.
The FTC’s Amazon-Temu Blunder: Working With China to Target American Tech
The FTC's surprising decision to partner with Chinese-owned Temu in its antitrust case against Amazon reveals a dangerous misalignment between American antitrust policy and national security interests, highlighting how regulatory overreach could end up strengthening China's tech dominance.
Why Big Tech Matters for National Security
America’s leading tech companies strengthen U.S. technological superiority by making massive investments in advanced technologies like quantum computing and AI, which are crucial strategic assets in an era of intensifying competition with China.
