Who We Are

CSET staff come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, bringing extensive experience from the highest levels of government, industry and academia to inform research at the intersection of technology and statecraft. We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and intellectual curiosity.

As a non-partisan organization, we produce rigorous, evidence-based, cross-functional analysis on emerging technology issues. We seek to expose our assumptions, follow the data and serve as trusted advisors to national security policymakers. Our data scientists collaborate closely with analysts to gather, process and interpret data at scale, including foreign-language and technical materials from diverse sources. 

Members of our team are challenged with meaningful work, offered ongoing opportunities for professional development and learning, and contribute to a collegial and engaging environment where they can thrive. 

We encourage you to learn more about CSET’s recent efforts by reading our 2023 annual report, CSET at Five.

What We Do

Our work covers several, sometimes intersecting, research topics:

CSET’s unique analytic approach is supported by our Data Science team, and our significant data holdings include nearly 60 analysis-ready datasets offering unprecedented coverage of the emerging technology ecosystem, bolstered by novel methods to classify these documents for analytic purposes. The team also creates data visualizations to highlight CSET research findings with graphic aids, including trackers, maps and other data-rich graphics.

We translate significant foreign-language documents on AI into English. In addition to supporting CSET research, we offer this service to others upon request.

Additional CSET initiatives include:

• The Emerging Technology Observatory, which focuses on building data products that leverage CSET’s data resources and infrastructure to give external users visibility into emerging technology trends.
• The Foundational Research Grants Program, which promotes the exploration of foundational technical topics that relate to the potential national security implications of AI over the long term by funding high-quality technical research centered on specific relevant projects.
• The PATHWISE Project, which builds on CSET’s existing workforce and talent expertise to develop and publicly share reports, data visualizations, and other tools that identify and track emerging technology talent across the U.S.
• The Government AI HUB Project, which explores issues relevant to enhancing U.S. federal agencies’ understanding and application of AI.

We engage with the broader Georgetown University community via the Tech and Society Initiative and collaboration with GU students and faculty.  

Donors

Five years ago, CSET was founded with generous seed funding from Open Philanthropy. In 2021, Open Philanthropy gave a second significant grant. CSET has been fortunate to receive additional funding from other individuals and organizations. As CSET grows, we look forward to engaging more stakeholders seeking to support our mission.

Thank you to our donors:

To learn more or to donate, visit our donation page.

Learn More

We disseminate our research through a variety of means, including public events, social media, media outreach, congressional testimony and policy.AI, our newsletter.

Find out more about our team, our public service fellows, and how to join us when openings are available.