How can the U.S. government and its allies make effective use of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) and other emerging technologies? Our research in this area examines AI-enabled emerging technologies relevant to national security, opportunities and challenges for adoption and application, and opportunities for alliances in the development and deployment of AI-enabled systems.

Reports

The U.S. Aerial Drone Market

Kyle Miller, Sam Bresnick, Jacob Feldgoise, and Christian Schoeberl

| November 2025

This report assesses the types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) platforms marketed in the United States and the finances of U.S.-headquartered UAV companies. It finds that most companies develop small UAVs, and only a handful develop more complex military systems. The report also finds that most drone manufacturers are privately...

Data Snapshot

Mapping Space Debris

Kathleen Curlee and Lauren Kahn

| November 3, 2025

Data Snapshots are informative descriptions and quick analyses that dig into CSET’s unique data resources. This data interactive maps each of the over 34,000 pieces of space debris the United States government has tracked since 1958, bringing Earth’s crowded orbits to life. It shows how seven decades of launches, collisions,...

Reports

U.S. AI Statecraft

Pablo Chavez

| October 2025

Recent U.S.-Gulf AI partnerships represent billions of dollars in strategic technology deals, but they raise critical questions about governance, oversight, and long-term influence. This analysis examines four major AI initiatives with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, discussing critical issues including fragmented oversight, technology diversion, and AI sovereignty. It...

The Future of Drones in Ukraine II: A Report from the NATO-Ukraine Defense Innovators Forum

Kyle Miller

| October 16, 2024

This blog post describes key takeaways from the NATO-Ukraine Defense Innovators Forum, held in Krakow, Poland in June 2024. It overviews changing concepts of operation, battlefield realities, and technological aspirations and innovations in Ukraine, with a focus on uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and counter-UAV systems. It builds upon CSET’s previous...

Building a Data Collection Pipeline: Insights from a CSET Internship

Jordan Monts

| September 12, 2024

This blog post recounts the development of a Python-based data collection pipeline project completed in the summer of 2024 by CSET inaugural intern Jordan Monts. During his project research and work, he used the Requests and BeautifulSoup libraries to create a two-part system to gather and process web data, support...

An Analysis of China’s AI Governance Proposals

Hipolito Calero

| September 12, 2024

This blog post analyzes five major Chinese AI governance proposals, focusing on the key actors specified in each proposal. We find that older proposals lack specificity when identifying AI governance actors. Recent proposals, on the other hand, assign roles and responsibilities to a defined set of actors. The findings from...

Emelia Probasco

Senior Fellow

Cole McFaul

Senior Research Analyst and Andrew W. Marshall Fellow

Julie George

Research Fellow

Kathleen Curlee

Research Analyst

Owen Daniels

Associate Director of Analysis and Andrew W. Marshall Fellow

Sam Bresnick

Research Fellow and Andrew W. Marshall Fellow

In their op-ed in Newsweek, Jack Corrigan and Sam Bresnick discuss the recent release of DeepSeek's AI model, R1, which has surprised the global tech industry by matching the performance of leading U.S. models at a lower cost. This development challenges the assumption that restricting China's access to advanced chips would significantly hinder its AI progress.

In her Washington Post op-ed, Emelia Probasco shared her expert insights in an op-ed published by The Washington Post. In her piece, she discusses the strategic partnership between defense company Anduril and OpenAI to develop anti-drone technology for the U.S. military.

In a KCBS Radio segment that explores the rapid rise of AI in the defense industry, Emelia Probasco provides her expert insight.

In their op-ed featured in Breaking Defense, CSET's Sam Bresnick and Emelia Probasco provide their expert analysis on the involvement of US tech giants in conflicts, such as the Ukraine war, and raise important questions about their role and potential entanglements in future conflicts, particularly those involving Taiwan.

In an article published by the Associated Press exploring the rivalry between the U.S. and China in military planning, particularly focusing on a new form of warfare utilizing swarms of air and sea drones equipped with artificial intelligence (AI), CSET's Margarita Konaev offers her expert insight.

CSET's Sam Bresnick discussed Chinese military capabilities with the South China Morning Post.