All of a sudden, everyone is talking about artificial intelligence. But while most public conversations about AI center around productivity and jobs, the race to dominate technology is in fact a primary geopolitical concern. AI is already impacting warfare and deterrence, and the immense amount of computing power required to stay ahead of the curve is driving foreign-policy choices for major economies.
Who will win the AI race? What does it mean for critical minerals and mining? How will it impact global trade, sanctions, and great-power competition? To discuss his lead essay in FP’s summer print issue, “The Scramble for AI”, join FP’s Ravi Agrawal in conversation with Paul Scharre, author of Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
Paul Scharre, author of Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and director of studies at the Center for a New American Security, explains that similar to how the world managed proliferation of nuclear weapons, the hook to managing proliferation of AI models is to control access at the hardware level.
Is the United States a leader on AI right now?
Paul Scharre
Director of Studies, Center for a New American Security
Paul Scharre is the Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security. He is the author of Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Scharre previously worked in the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he worked to create policies on unmanned and autonomous systems and emerging weapons technologies. He also led Defense Department efforts to establish policies on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance programs, and directed energy technologies. Scharre was involved in the drafting of policy guidance in the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance, 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, and secretary-level planning guidance.
Host
Ravi Agrawal
Editor in chief, Foreign Policy
Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy, the host of FP Live, and a regular world affairs analyst on TV and radio. Before joining FP in 2018, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. He is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy.
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