Publications

CSET produces evidence-driven analysis in a variety of forms, from informative graphics and translations to expert testimony and published reports. Our key areas of inquiry are the foundations of artificial intelligence — such as talent, data and computational power — as well as how AI can be used in cybersecurity and other national security settings. We also do research on the policy tools that can be used to shape AI’s development and use, and on biotechnology.

Annual Report

CSET at Five

Center for Security and Emerging Technology
| March 2024

In honor of CSET’s fifth birthday, this annual report is a look at CSET’s successes in 2023 and over the course of the past five years. It explores CSET’s different lines of research and cross-cutting projects, and spotlights some of its most impactful research products.

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Analysis

Putting Teeth into AI Risk Management

Matthew Schoemaker
| May 2024

President Biden's October 2023 executive order prioritizes the governance of artificial intelligence in the federal government, prompting the urgent creation of AI risk management standards and procurement guidelines. Soon after the order's signing, the Office of Management and Budget issued guidance for federal departments and agencies, including minimum risk standards for AI in federal contracts. Similar to cybersecurity, procurement rules will be used to enforce AI development best practices for federal suppliers. This report offers recommendations for implementing AI risk management procurement rules.

Analysis

China and Medical AI

Caroline Schuerger Vikram Venkatram Katherine Quinn
| May 2024

Medical artificial intelligence, which depends on large repositories of biological data, can improve public health and contribute to the growing global bioeconomy. Countries that strategically prioritize medical AI could benefit from a competitive advantage and set global norms. This report examines China’s stated goals for medical AI, finding that the country’s strategy for biodata collection and medical AI development positions it to be an economic and technological leader in this sector.

Read our translation of an annual white paper by a Chinese state-run think tank that analyzes the computing power landscape, in China and globally, as of late 2022.

Analysis

China, Biotechnology, and BGI

Anna Puglisi Chryssa Rask
| May 2024

As the U.S. government considers banning genomics companies from China, it opens a broader question about how the United States and other market economies should deal with China’s “national champions.” This paper provides an overview of one such company—BGI—and how China’s industrial policy impacts technology development in China and around the world.

Analysis

Gao Huajian and the China Talent Returnee Question

William Hannas Huey-Meei Chang Daniel Chou
| May 2024

The celebrated return to China of its overseas scientists, as evidenced in the recent case of physicist Gao Huajian, is typically cited as a loss to the United States. This report argues a contrarian view that the benefits equation is far more complicated. PRC programs that channel diaspora achievements “back” to China and the inclination of many scientists to work in familiar venues blur the distinction between returning to China and staying in place.

Read our translation of a preliminary draft of China’s proposed AI Law that has circulated among legal scholars.

Formal Response

Comment on BIS Request for Information

Jacob Feldgoise Hanna Dohmen
| April 30, 2024

Jacob Feldgoise and Hanna Dohmen at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University offer the following response to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM): Taking Additional Steps To Address the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities (89 FR 5698).

Read our translation of a Chinese industrial policy directive that aims to speed up the process of getting manufacturing prototypes into commercial production.

Read our translation of China's 2022 "Document 79" on state-run enterprise reform. U.S. media have reported that China strictly limited the dissemination of this document, which purportedly requires state firms to purge U.S. software. The publicly available version translated here has no such clause.

Read our translation of a Chinese standard for generative AI that establishes very specific oversight processes that Chinese AI companies must adopt in regard to their model training data, model-generated content, and more.