SCSP’s Year in Review: A Winter Must Read & Watch List
A Winter Must Read & Watch List
The SCSP team is excited to share our top picks for winter reading, featuring thoughtful analysis that explores the critical technology transforming our world. Dive into these resources to gain insights into the most important topics in an era of rapid change.
🆕 Latest Releases on Energy, AGI, and Warfighting
AI+Energy: Fortifying American Energy Dominance in the Age of AI outlines a comprehensive strategy to ensure U.S. energy security and global technological leadership during today’s AI moment.
AGI Will Arrive in Three Ways unpacks the three megatrends leading toward artificial general intelligence (AGI) – a topic many on our team have been tracking since our early days with the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI).
Defense Paper Series includes discussion papers about the future of warfighting written by advisors Clint Hinote, Jack Shanahan, Mike Groen, Mick Ryan, Mark Montgomery, as well as external experts Dr. Keith Dear, and Dr. T.X. Hammes to accompany our Defense Panel's 2024 Working Group Meetings.
📖 Worth the Read
Vision for Competitiveness: Mid-Decade Opportunities for Strategic Victory. Our 2024 landmark report offers a bold blueprint for our shared future. It outlines how the United States can bolster national strength, strengthen alliances, rebuild deterrence, catalyze American prosperity, and ensure our leadership in the coming era of AI-driven technological innovation. We will be building off of this in the new year with a new Transition Memos to the President series, where we will share big ideas to ensure America wins the technology competition with China.
Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit, co-authored by SCSP Chair Eric Schmidt, explores the complex relationship between humanity and AI, offering a unique perspective shaped by Kissinger's profound historical understanding.
Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War, by Raj M. Shah and Dr. Christopher Kirchhoff, tells the story of the Defense Innovation Unit, an initiative we know well at SCSP, aimed at bridging the gap between Silicon Valley's cutting-edge technology and the U.S. military's need for rapid modernization.
Situational Awareness, The Decade Ahead by Leopold Aschenbrenner, argues that the world is rapidly approaching the development of superintelligence, likely within the next decade, and explores the potential implications of this technological singularity.
🎤 SCSP Events Shaping the Discourse
The inaugural AI Expo for National Competitiveness and Ash Carter Exchange was our biggest splash of the year. Bringing together 156 exhibitors, 25 sponsors, 3 media partners, and 21 special events. Our 2 full days of programming included 429 speakers in 232 sessions on 5 stages, a drone cage, podcast studio, Talent Marketplace, and a bookstore. If you weren’t one of the 10,000 guests in attendance, you can enjoy the conversations with CEO’s, senior USG officials, and experts on our YouTube Channel.
In September, we hosted the AI+Energy Summit, convening the nation’s top policymakers, technologists, and energy industry leaders to discuss ideas and solutions that will enable America to maintain its competitive edge at the nexus of AI and energy. Watch it all here to listen to speakers like Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm.
The AI+Robotics Summit took place in October, the second summit in our "AI+" series. The primary goal was to chart a national strategy for leadership at the intersection of AI and robotics by convening innovation leaders to demonstrate technology directions, discuss policy implications, and identify the essential variables for U.S. competitiveness. Watch it all here, and hear from unique guests like world-renowned filmmaker James Cameron.
In November, The Ash Carter Exchange continued in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Joined by over 400 attendees and nearly 30 distinguished speakers, the Exchange highlighted how emerging technologies are pushing the scientific frontier, transforming the national security landscape, and necessitating a new form of partnership between academic institutions, government agencies, and the private sector. Watch ACX Cambridge here.
Last month, we hosted AGI House x SCSP Hackathon focused on cutting-edge AI and national security challenges. With nearly 100 attendees, including experts from the DOE, CIA, NSC, DIU, and CISA, we witnessed incredible innovation and collaboration. Over 80 hackers formed 20+ teams to tackle real-world problems in our Crystal City office. Huge thanks to George Mason University for providing $50K in prizes to the three winning teams! Relive the event from our Instagram coverage here.
The Workforce Innovation Task Force (WITF) at SCSP is a new initiative that critically examines how AI is transforming the workforce through regular programming like ai+careers, education initiatives like NatSecTech, university outreach, and policy research to drive change. Building off of the Talent Marketplace at our AI Expo, the team has hosted 16 events that engaged over 400 students and convened experts across industry, government, and academia. See their events here on YouTube.
In July, SCSP partnered with the U.S. Department of Commerce, in coordination with the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Milken Institute, to host the Innovative Capital Summit. Enjoy a conversation with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Dr. Eric Schmidt, on the need to stay competitive, protect our economic and national security, and promote place-based innovation here.
🗞️ Best of: Newsletters & Podcasts
AI + Biodefense: Welcome to MedShield: A National Biodefense System in the Age of AI
AI + White House NSM: ChatUSG: The White House Gives Artificial Intelligence the National Security Focus it Deserves
AI + The Axis of Disruptors: World Order at a Tipping Point: A Tehran Security Conference
AI+ Data: From Lab to Leadership: How Data Can Keep America Ahead
AI + Advanced Manufacturing: Episode 57: MIT’s Liz Reynolds
AI + Accelerating Defense Innovation: Episode 58: Gordian Knot Center’s Steve Blank
AI + Fusion Energy: Losing the Race for Nuclear Fusion
What’s Next? 📌
This just scratches the surface. We recommend checking out Our Work on our website and exploring our Substack and YouTube Channel for more. As always, we hope you subscribe online and join us for our unmatched, in-person events. With many experiences on the horizon, we hope to see you soon.
SCSP’s Commission on the Scaling of Fusion Energy launched in September. Over the next 12 months, the bipartisan commission will bring together government, academia, and industry behind a shared vision for the deployment of fusion energy to secure America’s position in the energy transition. Be on the lookout for their first publication in the beginning of the new year. More at scsp.ai/fusion.
The AI+Expo for National Competitiveness is taking over DC from June 2-4, 2025! Interested in joining us next year as an exhibitor or sponsor? Let us know how you’d like to be involved. It will be even bigger and better, and we can’t wait to share partners, experiences, and speakers soon. More on expo.scsp.ai.
We are launching Transition Memos to the President in the new year, featuring high-level memos and thought-provoking podcasts with key authors from SCSP. Our first episode with Eric Schmidt will drop in January. You won’t want to miss it!
