What role do the state of technological innovation and competitiveness in the United States have in national power? We offer recommendations for research and development policy, science and technology strategy, and research security. We also weigh in on the use of investments and incentives to strengthen the innovation ecosystem; export controls, sanctions and related policies to protect intellectual property and sensitive technologies; and trade rules and antitrust approaches to promote a fair and vibrant competitive environment.

Formal Response

RFI Response: Section 232 National Security Investigation of Imports of Robotics and Industrial Machinery

John VerWey

| October 16, 2025

Federal Register Document Citation: Docket No. 250924-0161 Reference Number: XRIN 0694-XC138 Agency Name: Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Strategic Industries and Economic Security, U.S. Department of Commerce. Organization: Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), Georgetown University Primary POCs: Igor Mikolic-Torreira, Danny Hague The Center for Security...

Reports

AI System-to-Model Innovation

Jonah Schiestle and Andrew Imbrie

| July 2025

System-to-model innovation is an emerging innovation pathway in artificial intelligence that has driven progress in several prominent areas over the last decade. System-level innovations advance with the diffusion of AI and expand the base of contributors to leading-edge progress in the field. Countries that can identify and harness system-level innovations...

Reports

Wuhan’s AI Development

William Hannas, Huey-Meei Chang, and Daniel Chou

| May 2025

Wuhan, China’s inland metropolis, is paving the way for a nationwide rollout of “embodied” artificial intelligence meant to fast-track scientific discovery, optimize production, streamline commerce, and facilitate state supervision of social activities. Grounded in real-world data, the AI grows smarter, offering a pathway to artificial “general” intelligence that will reinforce...

Inside Beijing’s Chipmaking Offensive

Jacob Feldgoise and Hanna Dohmen

| July 14, 2025

CSET's Jacob Feldgoise and Hanna Dohmen outline China's market share gains in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, based on data from CSET ETO's updated Supply Chain Explorer.

A Growing Yard: The Biden Administration’s China Export Controls Are Ensnaring CPUs

Jacob Feldgoise, Hanna Dohmen, and Brian Love

| August 22, 2024

Since 2022, U.S. export controls have restricted the highest-performing AI chips from being exported to China. The Biden administration likely did not intend to control CPUs (i.e., general-purpose processors) with these restrictions. However, CPUs are increasingly subject to export controls because chip designers are incorporating specialized elements for AI computation...

China’s Hybrid Economy: What to Do about BGI?

Anna Puglisi

| February 2, 2024

As the U.S. government considers banning genomics companies from China in the Biosecure Act, it opens a broader question of how the U.S. and other market economies should deal with China’s national champions. This blog post provides an overview of BGI and how China’s industrial policy impacts technology development.

Hanna Dohmen

Senior Research Analyst

Jacob Feldgoise

Senior Data Research Analyst

Owen J. Daniels and Hanna Dohmen shared their expert analysis in an article published by Foreign Affairs. In their piece, they examine how China's release of advanced open AI models, such as DeepSeek’s R1 and Moonshot AI’s Kimi K2, is challenging U.S. dominance in the global AI landscape and reshaping international influence.

Jacob Feldgoise and Hanna Dohmen shared their expert insights in an article published by Bloomberg. The article discusses China’s ongoing struggle to develop advanced semiconductor lithography systems—technology crucial to its ambitions for technological self-sufficiency amid its trade and tech rivalry with the United States.

In his op-ed in DefenseScoop, Jack Corrigan discusses the U.S.'s first national security memorandum on artificial intelligence (AI), which emphasizes large "frontier" models from major tech firms as key to national security and technological leadership. He cautions, however, that this focus could stifle broader AI innovation and create reliance on costly, resource-intensive systems.

In an article published by The Wall Street Journal that delves into the changing economic dynamics between the U.S. and China, CSET's Ngor Luong provides her expert insight.

A CSET report written by Emily S. Weinstein and Ngor Luong was cited in an article by Foreign Policy. The article delves into Joe Biden's recent executive order to initiate restrictions on U.S. investment in three specific technology sectors in China: semiconductors, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence (AI).

In an interview with BBC World News, Research Analyst Hanna Dohmen explains the significance of China's new regulations on deepfake technology.