The cleverly named GatGPT went into beta this week. I got an early look at it. And, now, we're having the head of the company behind it on the show to explain why they created it.

Defense Distrubuted's Cody Wilson said the end goal is to build an alternative to big tech initiatives in search and advertising. He argued AI could be a consequential tool in that effort. He said the kind of censorship ChatGPT has been saddled with, which keeps it from talking about guns and other topics its parent company OpenAI views as controversial, is holding back the mainstream efforts and gives GatGPT a potential edge.

However, it does still suffer from some of the same accuracy issues other major AIs struggle with. Wilson said they hope to continuously improve GatGPT with beta testers and high-quality data from sections of the online firearms community.

Wilson has garnered media attention and controversy since he first printed a gun back in 2013. He managed to retain his gun rights and take back control of Defense Distributed despite pleading guilty to a sex crime in 2018. His latest move shows he's remained as media savvy and controversial as ever, though.

Unlike many other AI startups, Wilson said he isn't looking to sell hype and bring in investors at unrealistic valuations. But he is hoping to create a viable business model around the uncensored AI model. One he hopes can benefit the entire firearms industry, which he says has been "ghettoized" by large tech platforms for over a decade.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss USCCA's latest foray into the political realm.

Special Guest: Cody Wilson.

Wilson is a pioneer in 3D-printed guns having developed the first prototype called The Liberator. His Ghost Gunner mini-CNC machine is among the popular ways to finish the unfinished gun receivers commonly available on the market.

As such, he read through the entire 364-page final guidance on the new ban from the ATF. We discuss the ins and out of what exactly is illegal now, how that will impact the firearms industry, and some of the surprises in the final regulation.

Wilson says he feels the regulations are unjust and unconstitutional. He said he plans to file suit against the administration over the changes. 

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about what we've found out about President Biden's new ATF director nominee Steve Dettelbach.

Special Guest: Cody Wilson.

In fact, he and his company have even focused on making some of that technology more common. Defense Distributed is now selling the third iteration of its "ghost gunner" mill. The miniaturized CNC machine can finish AR-15 receivers from blocks that are about 80 percent finished.

And, now, it can do even more. It can actually take a raw brick of metal and turn it into a part necessary to make a receiver. They call it a zero percent lower.

I saw the mill in action at SHOT Show 2022 and Cody describes the inspiration behind the latest project. The ATF has proposed a federal rule change that would expand its authority to determine what constitutes a firearm receiver and, therefore, who would have to obtain a license to make and sell them alongside serializing the guns and keeping records on who buys them. The new rule would allow the agency to determine a wide scoop of unfinished gun parts are "readily convertible" to finished receivers, but the agency said it does not plan to try and regulate raw metal blocks.

That's the point where Wilson said he saw an opportunity to get ahead of the regulation even before its finalized. And the zero percent project was born from that idea. Now, the company has successfully created and rolled out a design to consumers.

Still, Wilson faces significant legal battles across the country over state and federal attempts to block either the manufacture of personal firearms or even block sharing plans for how to make them. He provides an update on the state of the multiple lawsuits Defense Distributed is still embroiled in.

He also addresses why he decided to retake such a public-facing role at the company after he pled guilty to a crime resulting from him paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl, especially given the concerns unserialized guns are often used by criminals. Wilson said being the public face of the company is dangerous and he wasn't willing to have others take his place in that role.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss San Jose's first-of-its-kind attempt to force gun owners to pay an annual tax and acquire liability insurance.

Special Guest: Cody Wilson.