China’s State Key Laboratory system drives innovation in science and technology. These labs conduct cutting-edge basic and applied research, attract and train domestic and foreign talent, and conduct academic exchanges with foreign counterparts. This report assesses trends in the research priorities, management structures, and talent recruitment efforts of nearly five hundred Chinese State Key Labs. The accompanying data visualization maps their geographical locations and host institutions.

Community and technical colleges offer enormous potential to grow, sustain, and diversify the U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) talent pipeline. However, these institutions are not being leveraged effectively. This report evaluates current AI-related programs and the associated number of graduates. The authors find that few AI and AI-related degrees and certificates are being awarded today. They propose five recommendations to address existing challenges and harness the potential of these institutions to train tomorrow’s AI workforce.

This issue brief uses data from the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Doctorate Recipients to explore how many of the international students who earn STEM PhDs from U.S. universities stay in the country after graduation. The authors trace the journeys that these graduates take through the immigration system and find that most remain in the United States long after earning their degrees.

CSET submitted this comment to the Department of Commerce to inform incentives, infrastructure, and research and development needed to support a strong domestic semiconductor industry.

This brief illuminates the scale of Chinese government funding for higher education, science, and technology by exploring budget and expense reports for key government organizations and 34 of China’s most elite “Double First Class” universities. Chinese political leaders view elite universities as key components of the country’s military modernization, economic growth, and soft power; a situation that presents security risks for international partners.

The strength of a country’s talent pipeline depends in no small part on the quality of its universities. This data brief explores how Chinese and U.S. universities perform in two different global university rankings, why their standings have changed over time, and what those trends mean for graduates.

In the past decade, Chinese researchers have become increasingly prolific authors of highly cited AI publications, approaching the global research share of their U.S. counterparts. However, some analysts question the impact of Chinese publications; are they well respected internationally, and do they cover important topics? In this data brief, the authors build on prior analyses of top AI publications to provide a richer understanding of the two countries’ contributions to high-impact AI research.

This research agenda provides a roadmap for the next phase of CSET’s line of research on the U.S. AI workforce. Our goal is to assist policymakers and other stakeholders in the national security community to create policies that will ensure the United States maintains its competitive advantage in AI talent. We welcome comments, feedback and input on this vision at cset@georgetown.edu.

Advances in robotics technology are having a transformative effect on how people work, travel, communicate, and fight wars. This data brief provides an overview of global trends in robotics patents between 2005 and 2019, focusing in particular on the state of robotics patenting in Russia, as well as developments in military robotics patents both in Russia and across the globe.

This report examines nearly 350 artificial intelligence-related equipment contracts awarded by the People’s Liberation Army and state-owned defense enterprises in 2020 to assess how the Chinese military is adopting AI. The report identifies China’s key AI defense industry suppliers, highlights gaps in U.S. export control policies, and contextualizes the PLA’s AI investments within China’s broader strategy to compete militarily with the United States.