---
category: "Authors & Journalists"
tags:
  - Person
  - Journalist
  - Politico
  - ArtificialIntelligence
  - OpenPhilanthropy
summary: "Politico technology reporter, previously at National Journal, Morning Consult, National Review and the Daily Caller, who in 2023 reported on Open Philanthropy's network of funded AI policy fellows."
location: "Washington, D.C., USA"
relations:
  - type: employed_by
    with: "[[Politico]]"
    start: 2022
    fn: 2
  - type: employed_by
    with: "[[National Journal]]"
    role: "technology correspondent"
    start: 2017
    end: 2022
    fn: 1
  - type: employed_by
    with: "[[Morning Consult]]"
    end: 2017
    fn: 1
  - type: employed_by
    with: "[[National Review]]"
    role: "political reporter"
    fn: 1
  - type: employed_by
    with: "[[The Daily Caller]]"
    fn: 1
  - type: investigated
    with: "[[Open Philanthropy]]"
    start: 2023
    fn: 5
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---

Brendan Bordelon is an American technology policy reporter at *[[Politico]]*. A native of the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] and a graduate of the [[University of California, Riverside]], he worked at *[[The Daily Caller]]*, for two years as a political reporter at *[[National Review]]*, and at [[Morning Consult]], covering technology and cybersecurity policy, before [[National Journal]] hired him as technology correspondent from March 27, 2017.[^1] He also holds a master's degree from [[George Washington University]].[^2]

### Politico

Bordelon joined Politico on January 25, 2022 to write the *Morning Tech* newsletter.[^2] In January 2023 the global technology editor, [[Steve Heuser]], named him "Tech Influence reporter," covering the industry's influence on politics and policy.[^3] In September 2026 he was one of four authors, with [[Calder McHugh]], [[Christine Mui]] and [[Sam Sutton]], of the newsletter of Politico's new technology policy unit, Decoded.[^4]

### Reporting on Open Philanthropy

On October 13, 2023 Bordelon reported on the policy fellows funded by [[Open Philanthropy]], writing that the [[Horizon Institute for Public Service]] was "a nonprofit that Open Philanthropy effectively created in 2022," that Horizon fellows worked in the offices of Senators [[Martin Heinrich]], [[Mike Rounds]] and [[Todd Young]], and that the [[Center for Security and Emerging Technology]] was "funded almost entirely by Open Philanthropy." He described [[Jason Matheny]] of the [[RAND Corporation]] as "a luminary in the effective altruist community."[^5] On December 15, 2023 he reported on RAND's part in [[Joe Biden]]'s executive order on AI.[^6] *[[Semafor]]* reported in December 2025 that Open Philanthropy had been "bothered by media coverage of it, in particular a series of critical stories from Politico."[^7]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Roush, Chris. "National Journal hires Bordelon as tech reporter." *Talking Biz News,* March 20, 2017. https://talkingbiznews.com/they-talk-biz-news/national-journal-hires-bordelon-as-tech-reporter/
[^2]: Ahmed, Mariam. "Bordelon to join Politico to anchor 'Morning Tech' newsletter." *Talking Biz News,* January 7, 2022. https://talkingbiznews.com/they-talk-biz-news/bordelon-to-join-politico-to-anchor-morning-tech-newsletter/
[^3]: Roush, Chris. "Politico names Ives its deputy tech editor, Bordelon its tech influence reporter." *Talking Biz News,* January 7, 2023. https://talkingbiznews.com/media-news/politico-names-ives-its-deputy-tech-editor-bordelon-its-tech-influence-reporter/
[^4]: Roush, Chris. "Politico launches Decoded, a tech policy coverage initiative." *Talking Biz News,* September 16, 2026. https://talkingbiznews.com/media-news/politico-launches-decoded-a-tech-policy-coverage-initiative/
[^5]: Bordelon, Brendan. "How a billionaire-backed network of AI advisers took over Washington." *Politico,* October 13, 2023. http://web.archive.org/web/20250902172514/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/13/open-philanthropy-funding-ai-policy-00121362
[^6]: Bordelon, Brendan. "Think tank tied to tech billionaires played key role in Biden's AI order." *Politico,* December 15, 2023, archived February 11, 2026. http://web.archive.org/web/20260211112614/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/15/billionaire-backed-think-tank-played-key-role-in-bidens-ai-order-00132128
[^7]: Tani, Max. "AI critics funded AI coverage at top newsrooms." *Semafor,* December 7, 2025. https://www.semafor.com/article/12/07/2025/ai-critics-funded-ai-coverage-at-top-newsrooms