Reports

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.

Report

China’s Military AI Wish List

Emelia Probasco, Sam Bresnick, and Cole McFaul
| February 2026

This report examines thousands of Chinese-language open-source requests for proposal (RFPs) published by the People’s Liberation Army between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024. The RFPs the authors reviewed offer insights into the PLA’s priorities and ambitions for AI-enabled military technologies associated with C5ISRT: command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting.

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Reports

Autonomous Cyber Defense

Andrew Lohn, Anna Knack, Ant Burke, and Krystal Jackson
| June 2023

The current AI-for-cybersecurity paradigm focuses on detection using automated tools, but it has largely neglected holistic autonomous cyber defense systems — ones that can act without human tasking. That is poised to change as tools are proliferating for training reinforcement learning-based AI agents to provide broader autonomous cybersecurity capabilities. The resulting agents are still rudimentary and publications are few, but the current barriers are surmountable and effective agents would be a substantial boon to society.

Reports

The Policy Playbook

Jack Corrigan, Melissa Flagg, and Dewey Murdick
| June 2023

This brief provides a framework for a systems-oriented approach to technology and national security strategy. It identifies and discusses the tensions among three strategic goals of technology and national security policy—driving technological innovation, impeding adversaries’ progress, and promoting safe, values-driven technology deployment—and highlights various levers of power that policymakers can use to pursue those goals. This adaptable framework, suitable for any country or international body, emphasizes the importance of creative problem-solving and maintaining a comprehensive understanding of the policy landscape.

Reports

A Matrix for Selecting Responsible AI Frameworks

Mina Narayanan and Christian Schoeberl
| June 2023

Process frameworks provide a blueprint for organizations implementing responsible artificial intelligence (AI), but the sheer number of frameworks, along with their loosely specified audiences, can make it difficult for organizations to select ones that meet their needs. This report presents a matrix that organizes approximately 40 public process frameworks according to their areas of focus and the teams that can use them. Ultimately, the matrix helps organizations select the right resources for implementing responsible AI.

Data Snapshots are informative descriptions and quick analyses that dig into CSET’s unique data resources. This five-part series uses data from the U.S. Department of Education and other select sources to complement existing CSET work on the U.S. AI workforce.

Reports

A Shot of Resilience

Steph Batalis and Anna Puglisi
| May 2023

Vaccines keep the U.S. public healthy while safeguarding economic stability and biosecurity. This report assesses the domestic vaccine manufacturing landscape and identifies two major vulnerabilities: a reliance on foreign manufacturers and a lack of manufacturing redundancy. Maintaining a resilient vaccine supply will require the U.S. government to take steps to protect the existing supply, identify and monitor manufacturing vulnerabilities, and create a stronger domestic production base.

Data Visualization

ETO Research Almanac

Zachary Arnold, Jennifer Melot, Dewey Murdick, and Brian Love
| May 19, 2023

ETO’s Research Almanac provides high-level data on key trends in emerging technology research, including overall research output, growth, and trends among countries, research institutions, and companies active in R&D. This initial version of the Almanac focuses on topics and applications in artificial intelligence.

Reports

Spotlight on Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence

Huey-Meei Chang and William Hannas
| May 2023

In late 2020, China established the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence, a state-backed institution dedicated to building software that emulates or surpasses human cognition in many or all of its aspects. Open source materials now available provide insight into BIGAI’s goals, scope, organization, methodology, and staffing. The project formalizes a trend evident in Chinese AI development toward broadly capable (general) AI.

Reports

Financing “The New Oil”

Anthony Ferrara and Sara Abdulla
| May 2023

Israel has by far the largest AI ecosystem in the Middle East as measured in AI companies and financial investments, and foreign investors play a critical role in Israel’s AI market growth. This issue brief finds that AI investments in Israel have mostly originated from the United States. To date, Chinese investors have played a limited role in funding Israel’s dynamic AI companies. But understanding the risk of Chinese investments into the Israeli AI ecosystem will be important for the national security of both the United States and Israel.

Read our original translation of a significant Party and government reorganization plan that China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, passed in March 2023.

Reports

Volunteer Force

Christine H. Fox and Emelia Probasco
| May 2023

U.S. tech companies have played a critical role in the international effort to support and defend Ukraine against Russia. To better understand and envision how these companies can help U.S. strategic interests, CSET convened a group of industry experts and former government leaders to discuss lessons learned from the ongoing war in Ukraine and what those lessons might mean for the future. The workshop’s discussion and this accompanying report expand on the themes explored in the October 2022 "Foreign Affairs" article, "Big Tech Goes to War."