AI policy
This page lists resources on AI policy, think tanks, fellowships, congressional committees and profiles of federal agencies.
This article is a work in progress. You can recommend other resources for inclusion here.
AI policy resources
The following list is meant as a starting point for someone learning about the field and recent developments; there are many great resources we were not able to include, and recommend doing your own research into particular topics you’re interested in.
Introductory readings
- Stanford AI Index report (annual publication, includes policy and related sections)
- State of AI report (annual publication, includes a politics section)
- Artificial Intelligence, Our World in Data
- How fast is AI improving?, AI Digest
Career resources
- AI.gov/apply (AI-related opportunities in government; we recommend filling out the expression of interest form on the page)
- How to get into AI policy?, B Cavello
- Career review: AI governance and coordination
Newsletters
- policy.ai, Center for Security and Emerging Technology
- AI Snake Oil, Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor
- Import AI, Jack Clark
- FYI This Week, American Institute of Physics (science policy generally)
- AI Ethics Weekly, Lighthouse3
- Tech Policy Press newsletter
- Axios AI+, Axios
- ChinAI Newsletter, Jeff Ding
- The Algorithm, MIT Technology Review
Books
- Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (2023)
- The New Fire: War, Peace, and Democracy in the Age of AI (2022)
- Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology (2022)
- The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values (2020)
- Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy (2016)
Podcasts
- AI Policy Podcast, CSIS
- Hard Fork, New York Times
- POLITICO Tech
- The Gradient Podcast interviews AI practitioners and has done several episodes with a focus on AI policy, including Divyansh Kaushik, Irene Solaiman, Joanna Bryson, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, and Jack Shanahan
- The 80,000 Hours Podcast has in-depth episodes about AI policy work and career tips with AI policy practitioners and researchers like Tantum Collins, Helen Toner, Ezra Klein, Markus Anderljung, and Jeff Ding
- The Ezra Klein Show has done several interviews with AI experts focused on policy including Alondra Nelson, Gary Marcus, Brian Christian, and Demis Hassabis
- In AI We Trust?, EqualAI
- NatSec Tech, Special Competitive Studies Project
- The Lawfare Podcast: Cybersecurity and AI
- Your Undivided Attention, Center for Humane Technology
Online courses
- The Economics of AI, University of Virginia
- AI Policy Clinics, Center for AI and Digital Policy
- AI Governance Professional Training, International Association of Privacy Professionals (paid)
- Digital Governance, Erasmus University Rotterdam & University of Leeds
- AI & Law, Lund University
- AI Safety Fundamentals – Governance Course, BlueDot Impact
- Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Coursera
- Technical courses like Coursera’s Deep Learning Specialization, fast.ai’s Practical Deep Learning for Coders, and Udemy’s Transformers for Natural Language Processing
Think tank reports and policy analysis
- Congressional Research Service reports (search term “artificial intelligence”)
- Check out the publication pages of the think tanks listed below
Government documents
- Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI (2023), White House
- US National Artificial Intelligence R&D Strategic Plan (2023), White House
- Trustworthy & Responsible AI Resource Center (2023), NIST
- Responsible AI Strategy and Implementation Pathway (2022), DOD
- Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights (2022), White House
- Final Report (2021), National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence
- Global: AI Policy Portal, UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
Conferences and events
- Advantage DoD 2024: Defense Data & AI Symposium, DOD Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office
- AI Policy Summit, ETH Zurich and RegHorizon
- AI Policy Forum, MIT
- Kalaris intelligence conference, Georgetown University Center for Security Studies and Center for Security and Emerging Technology
- Global Emerging Technology Summit, Special Competitive Studies Project
Think tanks working on AI policy
While the below list is not comprehensive, we hope it is a useful starting point if you are interested in working at a think tank on AI policy.
- Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET)
- Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT): AI Governance Lab
- Center for a New American Security (CNAS): Technology and National Security
- Foundation for American Innovation (FAI): Technology and Innovation
- Aspen Institute: Aspen Digital
- Brookings: Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Technology and International Affairs
- RAND Corporation: AI, Technology and Security Policy Center
- AI Now Institute
- Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): Center for AI and Advanced Technologies, International Security and Strategic Technologies
- Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP)
- New America: Future of Work & the Innovation Economy, Open Technology Institute
- R Street Institute: Technology and Innovation
- Council on Foreign Relations (CFR): Digital and Cyberspace Policy
- Federation of American Scientists (FAS): Technology and Innovation
- Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP)
- Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC): Technology
- Wilson Center: Science and Technology Innovation Program
- Information Technology and Industry Foundation (ITIF): Center for Data Innovation
- American Enterprise Institute (AEI): Technology and Innovation, Foreign and Defense Policy
- Centre for the Governance of AI
- Institute for Progress (IFP): Emerging Technology
- Institute for AI Policy and Strategy (IAPS)
- Data & Society
- Institute for Law & AI (LawAI)
- Emerging Technologies Institute (ETI)
AI-relevant policy fellowships
The following fellowship programs are especially relevant for AI policy work (see also our full fellowship database for 50+ opportunities & this White House webpage):
- Horizon Fellowship (Horizon Institute for Public Service) – a 6-24 month full-time US emerging technology policy fellowship facilitating job placements in the US executive branch, Congress, and think tanks for early- and mid-career individuals. (Note that the Horizon Fellowship and this website are both projects of the Horizon Institute for Public Service.)
- AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowships (American Association for the Advancement of Science) – a 12-month fellowship in DC with four separate tracks, that places fellows within the executive branch, judicial branch, legislative branch, or in a nonprofit. The fellowship is for individuals with a doctoral-level degree. (There is also a similar California-specific S&T policy fellowship)
- Congressional Innovation Fellowship (TechCongress) – a 10-12 month full-time fellowship for early and mid-career professionals involving placements with a Member of Congress or a Congressional Committee.
- RAND Technology and Security Policy Fellowship (RAND Corporation) – a 1-3 year full-time or part-time fellowship with the RAND Corporation, focused on AI policy, open to candidates from all experience levels, from undergraduate students to mid-career professionals
- NobleReach Scholars (NobleReach Foundation) – a 1-2 year full-time technology policy fellowship in government or private industry for early-career individuals
- US Google Public Policy Fellowship – semester-long fully-funded fellowship for ~20 US college and graduate students per year offering both part-time and full-time work opportunities in the summer, fall, and spring at a tech policy-related host organization (a mix of nonprofits, think tanks, and industry groups)
- STPI Science Policy Fellowship (Institute for Defense Analyses) – a 24-month, full-time fellowship for recent bachelor’s or master’s graduates, in which fellows work with teams of researchers to support S&T policy-related tasks
- Science & Technology Policy Fellowship (Aspen Tech Policy Hub) – a full-time, paid, three-week program teaching science and technology professional about policy
- Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) – a 12-week full-time science and technology policy training and networking program in Washington DC for early career for graduate degree holders and current graduate students
- Paragon Fellowship – a part-time (5 hours/week) fellowship aiming to “connect students with opportunities in the science and tech policy space [by] researching and writing a policy brief on key issues for their state and local governments”.
- Technologist-in-Residence Fellowship (Council on Foreign Relations) – a 10-month full-time, paid research fellowship at the intersection of emerging technologies and foreign policy (highly competitive; strong preference for a candidate “currently working at a private-sector technology company”)
- Emerging Scholars in Technology Policy (Princeton University, Center for Information Technology Policy) – a 2-year tech policy research position with coursework and mentoring
- Just Tech Fellowship – a 2-year fellowship for “diverse and cross-sector cohorts of practitioners to imagine and create more just, equitable, and representative technological futures. Fellows have committed to identifying and challenging injustices emerging from new technologies and pursuing solutions that advance social, political, and economic rights.”
- Academic-Year Externships (Center for Democracy & Technology) – an unpaid academic-year long program for college, law, and graduate students with an interest in internet and technology policy, human rights, and/or civil liberties
- Technology and Geopolitics Fellowship (Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School) – 10-month academic research fellowship at Harvard University for doctoral students, PhD holders, or mid-career professionals, including “employees of government, military, private research institutions…or the private sector who have appropriate personal experience”
- Global Perspectives: Responsible AI Fellowship (Stimson Center) – “convening stakeholders from developing countries to discuss artificial intelligence, evaluate its impacts around the world, and propose responsible ways forward”
- Post-Graduate Law Fellowships (Center for AI and Digital Policy) – a program for law school students with a strong interest in AI law and policy to participate in public interest litigation in support of AI and democratic values
- UNIDIR Women in AI Fellowship (United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research) – program for junior to mid-career women diplomats comprising “a week-long, in-person training programme in Geneva, as well as a series of engagements with relevant experts and stakeholders.”
- Equitech Scholars Program (Equitech Futures) – an 8-week technical “program for current undergraduates from all disciplines who want to learn how to use cutting-edge technology tools in data science and artificial intelligence to tackle societal challenges” involving “cohort-based classes, mentorship, and networking opportunities”
Congressional committees relevant to AI policy
Since AI policy spans an incredibly wide set of topics, many congressional committees are involved in regulating the technology. For a list of committees most involved in AI policy, see the relevant section in part 3 of our working in Congress guide.
Federal agency profiles
These guides provide information on specific federal agencies working on issues relevant to AI policy.
Department of Commerce
Commerce promotes US economic growth and competitiveness through diverse roles in data, innovation, and industry support. It plays a key role in AI, overseeing standard-setting and semiconductor manufacturing and exports. Central components include BIS for export controls and NIST for AI standards and semiconductor funding.
Department of Energy
The DOE oversees energy policy, scientific research, and the nuclear arsenal, being the largest US government funder of physical science research. It significantly contributes to science and technology development and policy, including AI, particularly via its national labs.
Department of Homeland Security
DHS is integral to US national security, handling cybersecurity, counterterrorism, border security, and disaster response. DHS’s role in AI policy is growing, focusing on potential security threats in cybersecurity, election security, and critical infrastructure protection.
Department of State
State oversees US foreign policy, negotiating treaties, managing diplomatic missions, and representing the US in international bodies. In this capacity, State contributes to technology policy, which is becoming increasingly important in diplomacy.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
The FTC is an independent federal agency of the US government with a dual mission to promote fair competition and protect American consumers from predatory or misleading business practices. It will likely play a major role in AI regulation.