The Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) is a non-partisan U.S. think tank and private foundation focused on technology and security. Founded by former Google CEO

Eric Schmidt Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and software engineer known for being the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, executive chairman of Google from 2011 to 2015, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 20 ...

in October 2021, SCSP's stated mission is to "make recommendations to strengthen America’s long-term competitiveness as artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies are reshaping our national security, economy, and society." It seeks to ensure that "America is positioned and organized to win the techno-economic competition between now and 2030." SCSP is also a subsidiary of The Eric & Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, the Schmidt family's private foundation.

History

Inspired by the Rockefeller

Special Studies Project The Special Studies Project was a study funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and conceived by its then president, Nelson Rockefeller, to 'define the major problems and opportunities facing the U.S. and clarify national purposes and objectives, a ...

launched in the 1950s and led by Henry Kissinger, SCSP seeks to expand on the work of the

National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) was an independent commission of the United States of America established in 2018 to make recommendations to the President and Congress to "advance the development of artificial ...

by including other emerging technologies and issues of concern in its analyses.

Leadership

As of December 2023, SCSP's president and CEO is Ylli Bajraktari, former executive director of the

(NSCAI). Former NSCAI Chief of Staff Michael Gable serves as executive vice president, and former NSCAI Director of Operations and Designated Federal Officer Angela Ponmakha serves as vice president and Chief of Staff. There are 30 full-time staff members, including senior director for economy Liza Tobin, who formerly served as director for China at the White House National Security Council from 2019 to 2021.

Activities

SCSP's core work is divided into six panels, including: foreign policy, intelligence, defense, economy, society, and future tech platforms. Recent notable events include the 2022 Global Emerging Technology Summit, at which Jake Sullivan, Kathleen H. Hicks, Wendy Sherman,

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

, among other former senior U.S. and foreign government officials, delivered remarks. In May 2023, SCSP hosted the Ash Carter Exchange on Innovation and National Security attended by senior U.S. defense officials. In September 2023, SCSP hosted the 2023 Global Emerging Technology Summit, for which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered video remarks. SCSP awarded a grant to the

Australian Strategic Policy Institute The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is a defence and strategic policy think tank based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded by the Australian government and funded by the Australian and overseas governments, industry ...

(ASPI) to help with its Critical Technology Tracker project (published in March 2023). It also supports the Kissinger Center Papers project at Johns Hopkins University SAIS. In late-November 2023, SCSP launched a joint project on "Artificial Intelligence, Human-Machine Teaming, and the Future of Intelligence Analysis” with ASPI in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Board of advisors

As of December 2023, SCSP's board of advisors includes Michèle Flournoy,

Nadia Schadlow Nadia Catherine Schadlow (born c. 1965) is an American academic and defense-related government officer who briefly served in 2018 as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy in the Trump Administration. She is ...

Robert O. Work Robert Orton Work (born January 17, 1953) is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, Work was the U ...

, and William “Mac” Thornberry III.

Publications

Reports and Briefs

* Framework for Identifying Highly Consequential AI Use Cases, November 2023 (in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory) * Generative AI: The Future of Innovation Power, September 2023 * AI Governance Authority Options Memo, June 2023 * Mid-Decade Challenges to National Competitiveness, September 2022 In its coverage of the report, '' Axios'' wrote: "From SCSP's perspective, the geopolitical, technological, and ideological futures are all deeply interrelated: "By the end of this decade, we will know if we will live in a world shaped by free expression, tolerance, and self-determination or dictated by censorship and coercion."{{Cite news , last=Fried , first=Ina , date=September 12, 2022 , title=Report: Losing tech race with China could cost U.S. trillions , work= Axios , url=https://www.axios.com/2022/09/12/china-tech-us-race-cost , access-date=October 27, 2023

References

Think tanks Non-profit organizations based in Arlington, Virginia Technology organizations Policy Google Defense National security institutions