In an accompanying report, we found that two methods are best for verifying the location of AI chips: ping-based location verification (PLV) and physical inspections. This piece compares these two methods through a cost-benefit analysis and shows that PLV is the more cost-effective approach. We conclude that the most effective location verification approach would likely involve a PLV system that is supplemented by small numbers of physical inspections.

One year after CSET first published an analysis of China’s progress in the global semiconductor manufacturing equipment market, we provide a new analysis based on updated 2025 data. We find that Chinese toolmakers continue to steadily gain market share in fabrication tools, particularly in ion implanters, deposition, and etch and clean tools. Lithography remains one of China’s weakest fabrication segments. At the same time, China lost some market share in all major assembly, test, and packaging tool categories.

CSET is partnering with top universities to expand AGORA, its living collection of 1,000+ AI-related laws, regulations, and standards.

This piece offers a two-pronged framework for assessing sovereign AI based on why states pursue it and how they do so. Five country case studies trace the distinct pathways the United States, China, France, India, and Singapore have each taken toward sovereign AI.

CSET Senior Fellow Emelia Probasco shares her experience and the remarks she gave at the Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War, which took place at Borgo Laudato Si’, Vatican.

AI systems are increasingly impressive, which makes their failures all the more baffling. This blog dives into the causes of AI misbehavior.

CSET Executive Director Helen Toner spoke about the global AI competition at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

While AI standards and best practices provide valuable guidance to practitioners, they often are geared toward integrating AI into the structure and practices of large, well-resourced organizations. Yet small and medium enterprises (SMEs) stand to benefit greatly from AI adoption as well. This blog examines the implications of AI standards for smaller organizations and proposes several achievable initial steps that practitioners can take to further responsible AI deployment under resource constraints.

While demonstrating technical proficiency, challenges and competitions can reveal China’s People's Liberation Army’s (PLA) key priorities, bottlenecks, and institutional dynamics within its defense innovation system, which would otherwise be difficult to observe. This blog summarizes public PLA announcements of challenges and competitions from January 2023 to December 2024 to understand the signals the PLA may be sending about technical priorities.

Who counts as part of the AI workforce? The answer shapes how researchers measure AI talent, how policymakers diagnose shortages, and how workforce strategies are designed. Yet many existing definitions capture very different kinds of work under the same label. This blog examines the strengths and weaknesses of prevailing approaches and introduces CSET’s new definition of AI development jobs as a narrower, policy-relevant alternative.