For decades, the United States’ research prowess and innovative ecosystem have been unparalleled. But with respect to artificial intelligence, arguably the next technological frontier, U.S. leadership may be in jeopardy. The lack of access to computing power and the scarcity of meaningful datasets are precluding many academic researchers from pursuing cutting-edge research. Such bottlenecks may also pose national security risks if the United States falls behind in advancing AI. 

To address these concerns, Congress established the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) task force, with the mandate of implementing a National Research Cloud. Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) and the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) have offered recommendations on a way forward for NAIRR.

In this event, Stanford HAI Director of Policy Russell Wald, CSET Senior Fellow Andrew Lohn and Stanford HAI Postdoctoral Fellow Jeff Ding discussed how a National Research Cloud will impact U.S. national security.

Recording and Discussion

Participants

Andrew Lohn is a Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), where he works on the CyberAI Project. Prior to joining CSET, he was an Information Scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he led research focusing mainly on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Prior to RAND, Andrew worked in material science and nanotechnology at Sandia National Laboratories, NASA, Hewlett Packard Labs, and a few startup companies. He has published in a variety of fields and his work has been covered in MIT Technology Review, Gizmodo, Foreign Policy and BBC. He has a PhD in electrical engineering from UC Santa Cruz and a Bachelors in Engineering from McMaster University.  

Russell Wald is the Director of Policy for Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). In this role he is responsible for leading the team that advances Stanford HAI’s engagement with governments and civil society organizations to see a world benefit from the human-centered uses of artificial intelligence. During his time at HAI he has also coauthored “Building a National AI Research Resource: A Blueprint for the National Research Cloud,” which is the most comprehensive study on a National Research Cloud to date. Wald previously led government relations on behalf of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. In addition to his work at Hoover, Wald was head of outreach for the Stanford Cyber Policy Program, which was later elevated to become the Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center. Prior to his work at Stanford, he held numerous roles with the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. He is a Term Member with the Council on Foreign Relations, Visiting Fellow with the National Security Institute at George Mason University, and a Partner with the Truman National Security Project. Wald is a graduate of UCLA.

Dr. Jeffrey Ding is a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. He received his Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. His research interests include the effects of technological revolutions on the rise and fall of great powers, U.S.-China competition over strategic technologies, and assessments of national scientific and technological capabilities. His work has been published in Foreign Affairs, Security Studies, and other outlets. Dr. Ding has also worked as a researcher for Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology and Oxford’s Centre for the Governance of AI.