Frontier Tech and the Geopolitical Future

In this episode of The Interconnect, Stanford’s Amy Zegart and Herb Lin join the Council on Foreign Relations’ Adam Segal and Kat Duffy in a discussion about some of the most critical actors that influence the evolution of emerging technologies, the relative advantages of democracies and autocracies in developing frontier tech, and the central importance of talent and public and private investment in driving America's innovation ecosystem.

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Host
  • Martin Giles
    Managing Editor, Stanford Emerging Technology Review
Credits

Gabrielle Sierra - Editorial Director and Producer

Markus Zakaria - Audio Producer and Sound Designer

Molly McAnany - Associate Podcast Producer

Episode Guests
  • Kat Duffy
    Senior Fellow for Digital and Cyberspace Policy
  • Adam Segal
    Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security and Director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program
  • Amy Zegart
    Morris Arnold and Nona Jean Cox Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
  • Herb Lin
    Editor-in-Chief, Stanford Emerging Technology Review

Show Notes

Can policy keep up with innovation? As countries continue to develop frontier technology, the world simultaneously faces a never-before-seen interdependence and convergence of constantly evolving fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The challenges policymakers face range from judging how transformational new tech is likely to be, to managing trade in semiconductors and other sensitive areas, to creating the best possible environment for innovation to flourish. But as companies move fast and break things, and as democracies and autocracies scramble to achieve or sustain technological leadership, the stakes have never been higher. How should policymakers be thinking about setting policies that govern emerging technologies?

 

In this final episode of The Interconnect, Amy Zegart, co-chair of the Stanford Emerging Technology Review, and Herb Lin, its editor in chief, discuss the critical factors that influence the evolution of emerging technologies with the Council on Foreign Relations’ Director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program Adam Segal and Senior Fellow for digital and cyberspace, Kat Duffy. 

 

Read the 2025 Stanford Emerging Technology Review at https://setr.stanford.edu/

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