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Elsa Kania

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Elsa Kania was a Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), focused on Chinese military innovation in emerging technologies. She was co-founder of the China Cyber and Intelligence Studies Institute, was a 2018 Fulbright Specialist and Non-Resident Fellow with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Centre, Adjunct Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and has advised the China Aerospace Studies Institute, and Technology for Global Security. Her prior professional experience includes time with the Department of Defense, the Long Term Strategy Group, FireEye, and the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy.

Elsa has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC). She is a Ph.D. student at Harvard University’s Department of Government, and is a graduate of Harvard College (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa). Her thesis on the evolution of the PLA’s strategic thinking on information warfare was awarded the James Gordon Bennett Prize. Elsa was a Boren Scholar in Beijing, and she has professional proficiency in Mandarin Chinese.

How Should the U.S. Respond to China’s Military-Civil Fusion Strategy?

 May 2021

Elsa Kania, Emily Weinstein and Lorand Laskai discuss how the U.S. should respond to China's Military-Civil Fusion strategy.

Great Powers Must Talk to Each Other About AI

 January 2020

"As American strategy reorients toward strategic competition, critical considerations of surety, security and reliability around AI/ML applications should not be cast aside," write Andrew Imbrie and Elsa Kania.

The Question of Comparative Advantage in Artificial Intelligence: Enduring Strengths and Emerging Challenges for the United States

 January 2020

How do we measure leadership in artificial intelligence, and where does the United States rank? This policy brief examines potential AI strengths of the United States and China and prescribes recommendations to ensure the United States remains ahead.

Elsa B. Kania on Artificial Intelligence and Great Power Competition

 December 2019

CSET's Elsa Kania spoke with The Diplomat on AI’s potential, military uses, and the fallacy of an AI "arms race." "The future trajectory of these emerging capabilities remain to be seen, yet AI has become a new direction of military competition in the pursuit of operational advantage."

AI Safety, Security, and Stability Among Great Powers: Options, Challenges, and Lessons Learned for Pragmatic Engagement

 December 2019

Among great powers, AI has become a new focus of competition due to its potential to transform the character of conflict and disrupt the military balance. This policy brief considers alternative paths toward AI safety and security.

U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing on “Technology, Trade, and Military-Civil Fusion: China’s Pursuit of Artificial Intelligence, New Materials, and New Energy”

 June 2019

CSET’s Helen Toner, Jeff Ding, and Elsa Kania testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on U.S.-China Competition in Artificial Intelligence: Policy, Industry, and Strategy.