Initiatives
Our research initiatives allow us to focus on specific strategic questions and provide answers to those questions through in depth, multidisciplinary investigations of key topics within those areas.
AI Frontiers Initiative
The AI Frontiers Initiative is dedicated to exploring and evaluating AI models, datasets, and hardware. By rigorously evaluating the performance, applications, and limitations of cutting-edge AI systems, the initiative aims to track emerging trends, disruptions, and breakthroughs in the AI ecosystem, while linking them to broader strategic questions. This effort not only advances technical knowledge but also seeks to inform the decision-making of AI practitioners, industry leaders, and policymakers.
Carnegie Nuclear Security Initiative
The Carnegie Nuclear Security Initiative is a research program focused on the future of nuclear policy, security, and governance in a rapidly evolving global landscape. Our team draws from both technical and policy disciplines to tackle these complex security challenges from multiple angles. In addition, this Initiative expands UC Berkeley’s educational offerings in nuclear security and connects researchers with policymakers and practitioners through targeted briefings, international workshops, and strategic partnerships.
Missile Technologies Initiative
The Missile Technologies Initiative focuses on analysis, modeling, and forecasting of the capabilities and global security implications of new missile systems, as well as technologies for missile detection, tracking, and defense. Much of the current architecture of global security policy is built around a small number of well-established technologies, like ballistic and cruise missiles. The ongoing development and deployment of unconventional designs—hypersonic glide, orbital bombardment, and nuclear-powered cruise missiles, for example—threatens to disrupt that architecture. This research initiative aims to provide the historical context, technical knowledge, and computational tools necessary for effective policy adaptation to these ongoing processes of military technological change.
Quantum Security Initiative
The Quantum Security Initiative explores the societal implications of quantum technologies, including quantum computing, quantum sensing, and quantum communication, and governance strategies to promote innovation while managing risks. Quantum technologies hold significant promise for both civilian and military applications, but their development progress and deployment trajectories remain highly uncertain given their nascency. By providing technical analyses, sectoral data, and empirical research, this initiative aims to help scholars and policymakers better assess the state of quantum technology innovation, anticipate national security implications, and develop governance frameworks.