This research explores the global AI workforce and policies that affect it, including immigration, education pipelines and talent recruitment and retention—with particular emphasis on the national security workforce. We explore the supply and demand of the AI workforce in the United States and China, the state of AI education in the United States and China, technical talent migration trends within the United States, strengthening DOD’s AI workforce and access to talent, and preparing all U.S. workers to compete and succeed in an AI-enabled world. We also look at the role of non-traditional educational pathways in growing the AI workforce and the status and immigration dynamics of top AI-research talent.

Reports

Strengthening the U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing Workforce

Jack Karsten and Luke Koslosky

| September 2026

Over the past decade, the United States has sought to rebuild a larger share of leading-edge semiconductor production capacity to reduce geographic concentration risk and improve supply chain resilience. However, fabrication facilities (fabs) cannot operate at scale without a steady pipeline of workers with specialized skills, experience, and readiness to...

Data Brief

Identifying the AI Development Workforce

Sonali Subbu Rathinam and Ronnie Kinoshita

| June 2026

Existing measures of the AI workforce often group together a broad set of AI-related roles with varying skill requirements. This report focuses on the AI development workforce and describes our methodology for identifying AI development jobs and estimating AI development employment. It presents initial findings on the size and share...

Formal Response

RFI Response: Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise Request for Information

Steph Batalis, Jack Karsten, and Julie George

| December 19, 2025

CSET submitted the following response to the White House Office of Science and Technology in support of its "Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise initiative.

Blog

Defining the AI Workforce

Luke Koslosky

| April 24, 2026

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...

Blog

Promises and Progress: What Became of the AI Education and Workforce Executive Orders?

Ali Crawford

| November 20, 2025

The U.S. AI Action Plan is built on three familiar pillars—accelerating innovation, expanding infrastructure, and maintaining technological leadership—but its real test depends on education and training. To that end, the Trump Administration has linked the plan to two executive orders issued in April 2025: Executive Order 14277, “Advancing Artificial Intelligence...

Blog

Riding the AI Wave: What’s Happening in K-12 Education?

Ali Crawford and Cherry Wu

| April 2, 2024

Over the past year, artificial intelligence has quickly become a focal point in K-12 education. This blog post describes new and existing K-12 AI education efforts so that U.S. policymakers and other decision-makers may better understand what’s happening in practice.

Matthias Oschinski

Senior Fellow

Ali Crawford

Senior Research Analyst

Jack Karsten

Research Fellow

Jacob Feldgoise

Senior Data Research Analyst

Luke Koslosky

Senior Research Analyst

Sonali Subbu Rathinam

Data Research Analyst

CSET’s Matthias Oschinski and Mina Narayanan shared their expert analysis in an op-ed published by Newsweek. The article challenges the common framing of innovation versus regulation in AI policy, arguing that the more important question is what innovation is ultimately for and who benefits from it.

CSET’s Luke Koslosky shared his expert analysis in an article published by Newsweek. The article discusses Amazon’s recent announcement of 14,000 layoffs as the company seeks to streamline operations and prepare for workforce changes driven by emerging technologies like AI.

CSET’s Matthias Oschinski shared his expert analysis in an article published by Forbes. The article discusses how AI is reshaping the labor market faster than traditional education can adapt, emphasizing the growing need for skill-based pathways over formal credentials.

Matthias Oschinski and Ruhani Walia shared their insights in an op-ed published by The Hill Times. In their piece, they examine how artificial intelligence is reshaping—not replacing—jobs in Canada, and argue that the country is missing a critical opportunity to prepare its workforce for an AI-enabled future.

In his article featured in the Council of Foreign Relations, Matthias Oschinski shared his expert analysis on the importance of strengthening the United States' STEM talent pipeline.

“AI Chips: What They Are and Why They Matter,“ a report by CSET, was referenced in a Business Insider article. The article explores the urgent need in the US for more workers skilled in building AI chips. It highlights a significant decline in the American semiconductor workforce over the past two decades.