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Civilian Tech Is Powering China’s Military

Foreign Policy
| October 7, 2025

Sam Bresnick and Cole McFaul shared their expert analysis in an op-ed published by Foreign Policy. In their piece, they examine how China is rapidly integrating civilian technological innovation into its military capabilities through a strategy known as military-civil fusion, aiming to outpace the United States in areas like artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.

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 proposes a framework to transform ad hoc dealmaking into principled, transparent, and rule-bound AI statecraft that advances U.S. interests, strengthens technology relationships with allies and partners, and establishes durable governance mechanisms for U.S. AI deployments abroad.

How America Can Win in Space to Protect Taiwan and Beyond

Council on Foreign Relations
| September 24, 2025

Kathleen Curlee and Andrew Hanna shared their expert analysis in an op-ed published by the Council on Foreign Relations. In their piece, they examine how U.S. space superiority is essential to defending Taiwan while sustaining America’s global leadership in the face of China’s growing space ambitions.

A CSET report was highlighted in an article published by Inside AI Policy. The article delves into the findings of the report, noting China’s growing reliance on nontraditional vendors and research institutions in its AI-related military procurement.

Check out the recording and recap of CSET's event diving deep on China's military modernization below.

CSET’s Cole McFaul shared his expert analysis in an article published by the South China Morning Post. The article examines how China’s military is systematically incorporating artificial intelligence into its operations by leveraging civilian universities and private companies under its sweeping "military-civil fusion" strategy.

A CSET report was highlighted in an article published by Defense One. The article discusses China’s growing reliance on smaller, dual-use AI companies to support the People’s Liberation Army, often in ways that obscure foreign collaboration and circumvent U.S. sanctions.

China Is Using the Private Sector to Advance Military AI

The Wall Street Journal
| September 3, 2025

CSET’s Cole McFaul and Sam Bresnick shared their expert analysis in an article published by The Wall Street Journal. The article examines how China’s military is systematically incorporating artificial intelligence into its operations by drawing on civilian universities and private companies as part of its "civil-military fusion" strategy.

Pulling Back the Curtain on China’s Military-Civil Fusion

Cole McFaul, Sam Bresnick, and Daniel Chou
| September 2025

China’s efforts to develop AI-related military capabilities have garnered significant interest in the United States. Drawing on 2,857 AI-related defense contract award notices published between January 2023 and December 2024, this report finds that while China’s legacy defense sector players lead AI-related military procurement, an emerging set of nontraditional vendors and research institutions appears to play a consequential role as well.

CSET's Kathleen Curlee was featured in a short-form documentary published by CNBC. The documentary traces SpaceX’s rise from a struggling startup to a $400 billion company that now dominates the global space industry, while raising questions about the national security implications of U.S. dependence on a single private actor.