About the Program

Government policies, investment decisions, and regulatory frameworks play a significant role in shaping technological growth and innovation—and international tech competition. As the global technology race plays out, the GeoTech Center analyzes and helps shape governments’ policy responses and maps the opportunities and risks presented by emerging technologies, advancements in cybersecurity, and more.

Featured analysis

Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

Issue Brief Apr 3, 2025

Sovereign remedies: Between AI autonomy and control

By Trisha Ray

Sovereign AI has gained a foothold in several capitals around the world.
Artificial Intelligence International Norms
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues Apr 1, 2025

DeepSeek shows the US and EU the costs of failing to govern AI

By Ryan Pan, Kolja Verhage

The West must urgently consider what DeepSeek’s R1 model means for the future of democracy in the AI era.
Artificial Intelligence China
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

Issue Brief Mar 13, 2025

India’s path to AI autonomy

By Mohamed Elbashir, Kishore Balaji Desikachari

India is taking a distinctive approach to the global race for artificial intelligence (AI) supremacy.
Artificial Intelligence Digital Policy
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues Mar 31, 2025

Trump’s sectoral-trade pivot: What it will take to succeed

By Mahnaz Khan

The United States is now seeing the dawn of a new sectoral trade policy—one that, if harnessed effectively, has the potential to strengthen US economic resilience.
Economy & Business International Markets
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues Feb 4, 2025

Did DeepSeek just trigger a paradigm shift?

By Ryan Arant, Newton Howard

The release of DeepSeek’s AI model may have far-reaching implications for global investment trends, regulatory strategies, and the broader AI industry.
Artificial Intelligence Digital Policy
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

New Atlanticist Feb 4, 2025

Five AI management strategies—and how they could shape the future

By Kieron O’Hara and Wendy Hall

To ensure the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) are realized while minimizing the anticipated evils, it’s important to understand the different ways to approach AI governance.
Artificial Intelligence Technology & Innovation
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

New Atlanticist Jan 23, 2025

Trump should keep, not cut, Biden’s last-minute offer of federal land for AI data centers

By Will LaRivee

In an executive order in the final days of his administration, US President Joe Biden put forward a promising idea to expand US data center capacity.
Artificial Intelligence Politics & Diplomacy
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

New Atlanticist Nov 15, 2024

AI safety concerns transcend borders. To meet the challenge, US efforts need to go global.

By Will LaRivee

Will the United States work with partner nations to take the necessary steps at the upcoming International Network of AI Safety Institutes meeting in San Francisco?
Artificial Intelligence Internet
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues Jul 26, 2024

The sovereignty trap

By Konstantinos Komaitis, Esteban Ponce de León, Kenton Thibaut, Trisha Ray, Kevin Klyman

When sovereignty is invoked in digital contexts without an understanding of the broader political environment, several traps can be triggered.
Artificial Intelligence Digital Policy
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

New Atlanticist Jul 5, 2024

Advancing AI safety requires international collaboration. Here’s what should happen next.

By Courtney Lang

In May, ten countries and the European Union met in South Korea to establish an international network of AI safety institutes. Next, this network should focus on three specific objectives.
Artificial Intelligence Technology & Innovation
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues Apr 22, 2024

EU AI Act sets the stage for global AI governance: Implications for US companies and policymakers

By Mohamed Elbashir

The European Union (EU) has made a significant step forward in shaping the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the recent approval of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act) by the European Parliament. This historic legislation, passed by an overwhelming margin of 523-46 on March 13, 2024, creates the world’s first comprehensive framework […]
Artificial Intelligence Digital Policy
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

New Atlanticist Dec 18, 2023

Can AI be creative? Global copyright laws need an answer.

By Trisha Ray

Advances in generative artificial intelligence have revealed serious shortcomings in global copyright laws.
Artificial Intelligence China
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues Nov 16, 2023

AI governance on a global stage: Key themes from the biggest week in AI policy

By Courtney Lang

The week of October 30, 2023 was a monumental week for artificial intelligence (AI) policy globally. As a quick recap: In the United States, one of the longest Executive Orders (EO) in history was signed by President Biden, aimed at harnessing the opportunities of AI while also seeking to address potential risks that may be […]
Artificial Intelligence Digital Policy
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

New Atlanticist Nov 9, 2023

Rival powers agree that AI poses new risks. Can they work together to address them?

By Dame Wendy Hall and Trisha Ray

The recent AI Safety Summit in the United Kingdom offered a glimpse into a possible future of international cooperation on tackling risks associated with artificial intelligence.
United Kingdom
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

Video Nov 2, 2023

Decoding artificial intelligence

Watch Philip L. Frana, professor in the Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies and Independent Scholars programs at James Madison University, decode artificial intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence Digital Policy
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues Oct 11, 2023

Data strategies for an AI-powered government

By GeoTech Center

Recommendations for the federal enterprise from planning to piloting to procurement.
Artificial Intelligence Digital Policy
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

Issue Brief Jun 29, 2023

What policymakers need to know about artificial intelligence

By Philip L. Frana

Behind the hype and fear lies a crucial truth—AI is designed to augment human intelligence, not replace it. This primer explains how developers strive to create systems that mimic human capabilities by finding patterns, making predictions, and generating meaningful and actionable insights using data generated by our information-rich world.
Africa China
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues May 22, 2023

The regulators are coming for your AI

By Steven Tiell

The Group of Seven (G7) has lobbed the latest of three notable salvos in signaling that governments around the globe are focused on regulating Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). The G7 ministers have established the Hiroshima AI Process, an inclusive effort for governments to collaborate on AI governance, IP rights (including copyright), transparency, mis/disinformation, and responsible […]
Technology & Innovation
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues Apr 27, 2023

Why US technology multinationals are looking to Africa for AI and other emerging technologies: Scaling tropical-tolerant R&D innovations

By Nii Simmonds

The African continent is emerging as a crucial player in the drive for innovation as technology continues to transform every industry. Due to its potential as a center for ground-breaking research and development (R&D) in artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, US technology corporations are increasingly focusing on Africa.
Africa International Markets
Tech competition: Defining leadership in the tech landscape

GeoTech Cues Aug 22, 2022

Beyond CHIPS: Prioritizing standardization is critical for US competitiveness

By Mary Saunders, Giulia Neaher

The CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law by President Biden on August 9, 2022, sends a strong message in support of a market-led standards system to bolster domestic technology innovation and competitiveness. In addition to nearly $53 billion in funding to encourage domestic manufacture of semiconductor chips, the CHIPS Act includes some $11 billion for […]
Technology & Innovation