Learning Objectives
- Reconstruct the strongest version of the "race to AGI" national-security frame, and the strongest version of the case that the race itself is the danger
- Evaluate governance levers (compute, export controls, lab security, liability, international coordination) as instruments serving competing strategic theories — not as ends in themselves
- Form a defensible view on what a healthy AGI-strategy posture for the US and its allies should look like, and what it would buy us for safety
Core Readings
Recommended
In Search of a Dynamist Vision for Safe Superhuman AIHelen Toner · 2025
Beyond the AI Arms Race: America, China, and the Dangers of Zero-Sum ThinkingZwetsloot, Toner, & Ding · 2018
Response to Aschenbrenner's "Situational Awareness"Bensinger · 2024
The Case for Ensuring That Powerful AIs Are ControlledShlegeris & Greenblatt · 2024
Without Specific Countermeasures, the Easiest Path to Transformative AI Likely Leads to AI TakeoverCotra · 2022
How US Export Controls Have (and Haven't) Curbed Chinese AIAI Frontiers · 2024
Diversion and Resale: Estimating Compute Smuggling to ChinaJuniewicz (Epoch AI) · 2026
The AI Regulator's Toolbox: A List of Concrete AI Governance PracticesAdam Jones · 2024
We're Not Ready for AI LiabilityAI Frontiers · 2024
Securing Model WeightsRAND · 2024
The Finalized EU AI Act: Implications and InsightsHoffmann (CSET) · 2024
China's AI Policy at the Crossroads: Balancing Development and Control in the DeepSeek EraSheehan (Carnegie) · 2025
SB 53California Legislature · 2025
Is China Serious About AI Safety?Carnegie · 2024
The State of State AI LawCarnegie · 2025
Frontier AI Regulation: Managing Emerging Risks to Public SafetyAnderljung et al. · 2023
International Institutions for Advanced AIHo et al. · 2023
If-Then Commitments for AI Risk ReductionCarnegie · 2024
Verifying International Agreements on AIRAND · 2024
The Case for AI LiabilityAI Frontiers · 2024
Tort Law as a Tool for Mitigating Catastrophic Risk from AIWeil · 2024
Further Reading
Trump's Plan for AI: Recapping the White House's AI Action PlanFriedland (CSET) · 2025
AI Safety Under the EU AI Code of Practice — A New Global Standard?Hoffmann (CSET) · 2025
AISI Frontier AI Trends Report 2025UK AI Security Institute · 2025
Common Elements of Frontier AI Safety PoliciesMETR · 2025
The AI Governance Arms Race: From Summit Pageantry to Progress?Renda (Carnegie) · 2024
Superintelligence Strategy: Expert VersionHendrycks, Schmidt, & Wang · 2025
Seeking Stability in the Competition for AI AdvantageMazarr (RAND) · 2025
Oversight for Frontier AI Through a KYC Scheme for Compute ProvidersEgan & Heim (GovAI) · 2023
Secure, Governable ChipsAarne, Fist, & Withers (CNAS/IAPS) · 2024
Anthropic's RSP v3.0: How It Works, What's Changed, and Some ReflectionsGovAI · 2025
Regulatory MarketsHadfield & Clark · 2023
Situational Awareness: Lock Down the LabsAschenbrenner · 2024
A National Center for Advanced AI Reliability and SecurityFAS · 2024
U.S. Tort Liability for Large-Scale AI Damages: A PrimerRamakrishnan et al. (RAND) · 2024
Tort Law and Frontier AI Governancevan der Merwe, Ramakrishnan, & Anderljung (Lawfare) · 2024
Tort Law Should Be the Centerpiece of AI GovernanceWeil (Lawfare) · 2024