This data brief uses procurement records published by the U.S. Department of Defense and China’s People’s Liberation Army between April and November of 2020 to assess, and, where appropriate, compare what each military is buying when it comes to artificial intelligence. We find that the two militaries are prioritizing similar application areas, especially intelligent and autonomous vehicles and AI applications for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

This is a Hungarian translation of the May 2021 CSET Issue Brief “China’s Foreign Technology Wish List.”

This is a Russian translation of the May 2021 CSET Issue Brief “China’s Foreign Technology Wish List.”

The Chinese military’s progress in artificial intelligence largely depends on continued access to high-end semiconductors. By analyzing thousands of purchasing records, this policy brief offers a detailed look at how China’s military comes to access these devices. The authors find that most computer chips ordered by Chinese military units are designed by American companies, and outline steps that the U.S. government could take to curtail their access.

CSET's Ryan Fedasiuk and Elliot Silverberg argue that there are numerous opportunities for the new Yoon administration to strengthen South Korea’s partnership with members of the Quad concerning technology and greater cooperation.

China’s State Key Laboratory system drives the country’s innovation in science and technology. A key part of China’s aim to reduce its dependence on foreign technology, these labs conduct cutting-edge basic and applied research, attract and train domestic and foreign talent, and conduct academic exchanges with foreign counterparts. These laboratories are spread across almost all Chinese provinces except Tibet, with the majority clustered in large coastal cities.

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.

In an opinion piece for War of the Rocks, CSET's Alex Stephenson and Ryan Fedasiuk give a detailed analysis into the use of AI in a U.S.-Chinese conflict.

In an opinion piece for The Strategist, Ryan Fedasiuk gives an overview if China's united front system and its foreign facing role.

The goal of this guide is to acquaint researchers and analysts with tools, resources, and best practices to ensure security when collecting or accessing open-source information.

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.

In an opinion piece for The Diplomat, Ellen Lu and CSET's Ryan Fedasiuk examine whether China's new data regulations will hamper AI ambitions.

In an opinion piece for Foreign Policy, research analysts Ryan Fedasiuk and Emily Weinstein lay out key resources at the heart of the U.S.-China competition.

CSET Research Analyst Ryan Fedasiuk outlines three areas in need of attention to strengthen the U.S.-ROK technology alliance.

Research Analyst Ryan Fedasiuk reveals China's artificial intelligence intentions in an op-ed for Breaking Defense.

In an opinion piece for Politico Magazine, Ryan Fedasiuk highlights China's adoption of artificial intelligence into its military systems using evidence from his CSET report.

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.

Chinese and Russian government officials are keen to publicize their countries’ strategic partnership in emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. This report evaluates the scope of cooperation between China and Russia as well as relative trends over time in two key metrics of AI development: research publications and investment. The findings expose gaps between aspirations and reality, bringing greater accuracy and nuance to current assessments of Sino-Russian tech cooperation.

In his latest piece for the Center for International Maritime Security, CSET's Ryan Fedasiuk unpacks China's growing autonomous undersea vehicles and the implications of their use.

Since the mid-2000s, China has consistently graduated more STEM PhDs than the United States, a key indicator of a country’s future competitiveness in STEM fields. This paper explores the data on STEM PhD graduation rates and projects their growth over the next five years, during which the gap between China and the United States is expected to increase significantly.

In his latest piece with the Council on Foreign Relations, CSET's Ryan Fedaisuk emphasizes the serious threats China's internet trolls pose for economic security, political stability, and personal safety worldwide.

“Science and technology diplomats” act as brokers as part of China’s broader strategy to acquire foreign technology. Each year, they file hundreds of official reports on their activities. This issue brief illuminates trends in the 642 reports filed by the S&T directorates of Chinese embassies and consulates from 2015 to 2020, quantifying which types of technologies the Chinese government is most focused on acquiring, and from where.

In his piece with The Jamestown Foundation, CSET Research Analyst Ryan Fedasiuk shines light on the Chinese Communist Party's use of internet trolls to control China's online public image.

New analytic tools are used in this data brief to explore the public artificial intelligence (AI) research portfolio of China’s security forces. The methods contextualize Chinese-language scholarly papers that claim a direct working affiliation with components of the Ministry of Public Security, People's Armed Police Force, and People’s Liberation Army. The authors review potential uses of computer vision, robotics, natural language processing and general AI research.

In May 2020, the White House announced it would deny visas to Chinese graduate students and researchers who are affiliated with organizations that implement or support China’s military-civil fusion strategy. The authors discuss several ways this policy might be implemented. Based on Chinese and U.S. policy documents and data sources, they estimate that between three and five thousand Chinese students might be prevented from entering U.S. graduate programs each year.

It’s widely understood that Beijing invests significant resources in shoring up its science and technology prowess, but the extent and flows of the Chinese government’s public investments in S&T are not as well known. This project tracks publicly available information about the budgets of more than two-dozen high-level Chinese government entities, including those that support science, technology, and talent recruitment.

CSET Research Analyst Ryan Fedasiuk analyzes China's investment in internet and social media censorship.

Research from a CSET report reveals that more than a dozen U.S. tech firms have collaborative programs with China contributing to China's expanding defense efforts.

To help U.S. policymakers address long-held concerns about risks and threats associated with letting Chinese university students or graduates study in the United States, CSET experts examine which forms of collaboration, and with which Chinese universities, pose the greatest risk to U.S. research security.

National security leaders view AI as a priority technology for defending the United States. This two-part analysis is intended to help policymakers better understand the scope and implications of U.S. military investment in autonomy and AI. It focuses on the range of autonomous and AI-enabled technologies the Pentagon is developing, the military capabilities these applications promise to deliver, and the impact that such advances could have on key strategic issues.

This brief examines how the Pentagon’s investments in autonomy and AI may affect its military capabilities and strategic interests. It proposes that DOD invest in improving its understanding of trust in human-machine teams and leverage existing AI technologies to enhance military readiness and endurance. In the long term, investments in reliable, trustworthy, and resilient AI systems are critical for ensuring sustained military, technological, and strategic advantages.

The Pentagon has a wide range of research and development programs using autonomy and AI in unmanned vehicles and systems, information processing, decision support, targeting functions, and other areas. This policy brief delves into the details of DOD’s science and technology program to assess trends in funding, key areas of focus, and gaps in investment that could stymie the development and fielding of AI systems in operational settings.

Today’s research and development investments will set the course for artificial intelligence in national security in the coming years. This Executive Summary presents key findings and recommendations from CSET’s two-part analysis of U.S. military investments in autonomy and AI, including our assessment of DOD’s research priorities, trends and gaps, as well as ways to ensure U.S. military leadership in AI in the short and the long term.

Collaborating with allies to shape the trajectory of artificial intelligence and protect against digital authoritarianism

CSET's Ryan Fedasiuk argues that the CCP's efforts to poach science and technology professionals are becoming more appealing, and that to retain U.S. scientists the United States must create more opportunities for experts.

In this brief, CSET Research Analyst Ryan Fedasiuk analyzes how China gathers funding to influence overseas Chinese communities.

CSET research sheds light on the backgrounds and career paths of nearly 3,600 awardees in China’s Youth Thousand Talents Plan. While concerns over China’s recruitment of science and technology experts for military-supporting roles are legitimate, this brief finds that the vast majority of YTTP awardees receive civilian-oriented job offers.

The world is watching how the Chinese military develops and deploys artificial intelligence—but how exactly will it apply AI? This policy brief analyzes Chinese experts’ arguments about AI and prospective warfighting capabilities, identifying prevailing concerns about strategic stability and unintended escalation.

Both China and the United States seek to develop military applications enabled by artificial intelligence. This issue brief reviews the obstacles to assessing data competitiveness and provides metrics for measuring data advantage.

China's government encourages members of the Chinese diaspora to engage in technology transfer through Chinese professional associations. This issue brief analyzes 208 such associations to assess the scope of technical exchange between overseas professionals and entities within China.

The Chinese government seeks to exert influence through its scholarship and exchange programs. This issue brief assembles a picture of the China Scholarship Council—the primary vehicle by which the state provides scholarships—through Chinese-language sources.

The United States and its allies must develop targeted and coordinated policies to respond to unwanted Chinese technology transfer—gathering more data, raising awareness of tech transfer, and coordinating investment screening procedures as part of a broader agenda of technology alliance cooperation.

The United States must collaborate with its allies and partners to shape the trajectory of artificial intelligence, promoting liberal democratic values and protecting against efforts to wield AI for authoritarian ends.