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Delve into insightful blog posts from CSET experts exploring the nexus of technology and policy. Navigate through in-depth analyses, expert op-eds, and thought-provoking discussions on inclusion and diversity within the realm of technology.

The European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act has officially come into force today after more than five years of legislative processes and negotiations. While marking a significant milestone, it also initiates a prolonged phase of implementation, refinement, and enforcement. This blog post outlines key aspects of the regulation, such as rules for general-purpose AI and governance structures, and provides insights into its timeline and future expectations.

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Commentary: Balancing AI Governance with Opportunity

Jaret C. Riddick
| November 30, 2023

On October 30, 2023, the Biden administration released the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This blog contemplates a potential lack of balance in the policy discussions between the restrictions that come with governance and the promise of opportunity unleashed by innovation. Is it possible to apply AI standards, governance, safeguards and protections in a manner that stimulates innovation, competitiveness and global leadership for the United States in AI?

The Global Distribution of STEM Graduates: Which Countries Lead the Way?

Brendan Oliss, Cole McFaul, and Jaret C. Riddick
| November 27, 2023

Discover how the global landscape of STEM graduates is shifting, potentially reshaping the future of innovation and education worldwide. This blog post analyzes recent education data from the countries with the most graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. For each of the top eleven countries by number of STEM graduates, we present the total number of STEM graduates as well as STEM graduates as a percentage of total graduates in 2020.

Breaking Down the Biden AI EO: Screening DNA Synthesis and Biorisk

Steph Batalis and Vikram Venkatram
| November 16, 2023

The recent Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence will have major implications for biotechnology. The EO demonstrates that the White House considers biorisk a major concern for AI safety and security. In this blog post CSET’s bio experts explain the bio-relevant takeaways of the executive order, add some additional context, and note their remaining questions about its implementation.

There’s a lot to digest in the October 30 White House’s AI Executive Order. Our tracker is a useful starting point to identify key provisions and monitor the government’s progress against specific milestones, but grappling with the substance is an entirely different matter. This blog post, focusing on Section 4 of the EO (“Developing Guidelines, Standards, and Best Practices for AI Safety and Security”), is the first in a series that summarizes interesting provisions, shares some of our initial reactions, and highlights some of CSET’s research that may help the USG tackle the EO.

The Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI: Decoding Biden’s AI Policy Roadmap

Ronnie Kinoshita, Luke Koslosky, and Tessa Baker
| May 3, 2024

On October 30, 2023, the Biden administration released its long-awaited Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. CSET has broken down the EO, focusing on specific government deliverables. Our EO Provision and Timeline tracker lists which agencies are responsible for actioning EO provisions and their deadlines.

A Guide to the Proposed Outbound Investment Regulations

Ngor Luong and Emily S. Weinstein
| October 6, 2023

The August 9 Executive Order aims to restrict certain U.S. investments in key technology areas. In a previous post, we proposed an end-user approach to crafting an AI investment prohibition. In this follow-on post, we rely on existing and hypothetical transactions to test scenarios where U.S. investments in China’s AI ecosystem would or would not be covered under the proposed program, and highlight outstanding challenges.

On September 8, 2023, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) released their Bipartisan Framework on AI Legislation. The framework includes many ideas and recommendations that CSET research has highlighted over the past four years. This blog post highlights some of the most relevant reports and CSET’s perspective on the framework’s elements.

Recent announcements from both Pentagon and Congressional leaders offer significant opportunity for rapidly delivering autonomous systems technology at-scale for U.S. Warfighters well into the future. Dr. Jaret Riddick, CSET Senior Fellow and former Principal Director for Autonomy in USD(R&E) offers his perspective on DOD’s Replicator Initiative and recent legislative proposals about DOD autonomy.

Scoping AI for National Security: An Impossible Task?

Emily S. Weinstein and Ngor Luong
| August 28, 2023

On August 9, 2023 the Biden administration announced an executive order to restrict certain U.S. investments in China’s key technology sectors, including artificial intelligence. This blog post proposes implementing investment restrictions related to AI for national security using a list-based end-user approach that builds upon existing list-based tools.

In & Out of China: Financial Support for AI Development

Ngor Luong and Margarita Konaev
| August 10, 2023

Drawing from prior CSET research, this blog post describes different domestic and international initiatives the Chinese government and companies are pursuing to shore up investment in AI and meet China’s strategic objectives, as well as indicators to track their future trajectories.