Brandon Kirk Williams
@BKwilliamscyb
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Tech & Nat sec Policy Sr Fellow at CGSR @Livermore_Lab, China Fellow @TheWilsonCenter non-res @stanfordcisac, US & Cold War History PhD @UCBerkeley
Joined November 2020
One of the better responses to Kuos essay, and sits nicely when all both are read in conversation with Doshis opinion piece.
Finally had time to read this, but I could barely get past the opening pages. Still, I’ll try. This is how Kuo begins his essay: “This essay doesn’t rehearse the familiar bill of particulars on China—constraints on political pluralism and independent media; expansive security
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Well, not quite. I'd say 20-30% use open source. Of those I'd say 80% use Chinese based models. So closer to 16-24%.
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China offering subsidies of half of electricity bill (enormous share of data center expenses) but only if they use domestic chips. Shows Chinese chips still far worse than even tuned down U.S. chips, but they have the abundant electricity to make up some of the difference
China offers tech giants cheap power to boost domestic AI chips
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I’m shocked noted China troll would wildly misconstrue the policy prescriptions.
I’ve received many questions about this paper, given my expertise on cross-Strait issues and former affiliation with RAND. I I can tell you that Arnaud is categorically wrong as the sentence in question was simply poorly written and doesn’t advise the US to allow unification.
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Shocked to find there’s gambling in this establishment.
Unitree G1 robot has a root exploit via BLE using a hardcoded AES key shared across all robots data is continually sent to overseas servers despite GDPR; as there are full lidar, audio, and video sensors, the data/surveillance potential is large arxiv: https://t.co/3Y8QZQdeus
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Relief he’s confirmed but what a massive first week for @jacobhelberg
Huge escalation by China! MOFCOM announces new exports controls taking effect after Dec 1 of rare earths to anyone anywhere in the world producing chips or equipment to make chips below 14nm or 256 layer memory due to “military applications” 1/2
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Spot on thread but two important factors absent: fewer undergrads see a history degree as a ticket to upward mobility/affluence, that’s STEM degrees; parents also weigh in to shape major perception and preference
That said, 'majors only' is a slanted metric, especially in the context of rising tuition. Students, understandably, respond to rising tuition by shifting to majors they think will earn better. But that rising tuition is often driven by those very expensive programs...
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A couple of weeks ago, I was a guest on the Tech Policy Podcast where I talked about quantum computing and my recent articles on quantum competition. @corbinkbarthold generously invited me and we had a fantastic, wide-ranging discussio
NEW EPISODE! @BKwilliamscyb of @Livermore_Lab discusses quantum computing—the science behind it, its potential applications, the geopolitics surrounding it, and more. Full episode: https://t.co/pun8A7if1p
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Outstanding thread on the upcoming 3rd Plenum
What to Expect at China's Third Plenum Next Week? History actually suggests plenums are overrated for fundamental change Xi will deepen his current agenda, but there are some intriguing signals around new policy moves Highlights from @AsiaPolicy report by Jing Qian & I: 1/25
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This builds from my @TIME article that historically roots the nature of quantum completion, and it’s an urgent call to update the National Quantum Initiative Act.
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Life can come at you fast, and I’m belatedly sharing my @lawfare article calling for an unclassified national quantum strategy. The Janus faced scope of quantum technologies’ threat and opportunity demands a vision on how to preserve US leadership.
"While the United States once dominated quantum research and development, its lead has since slipped. Failure to act quickly may create an opening for China." @BKwilliamscyb on why the U.S. needs a strategy for quantum research and development.
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The solutions for cryptography are out there as I described in this article for @TheWilsonCenter
wilsoncenter.org
Global powers are preparing for Y2Q by leveraging policy and technology solutions to prevent strategic surprise. Recent advances by Chinese quantum computing companies are raising alarms that China...
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We’re in the midst of the second quantum revolution and 2023 breakthroughs by IBM & QuEra, and subsequent announcements, point to coming advancements that will be Janus faced: profound for science but also disruptive for nat sec. Thanks to @brianros1 for his big push on this. (2)
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My article on quantum and innovation history is up on Time. I’ll have more up soon in Lawfare on how to best sustain US leadership of the second quantum revolution that McKinsey reports may add up to 2 trillion in economic growth. (1)
time.com
The past provides a guide for how to win a coming computing revolution that the U.S. can't afford to lose.
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2 postdoc openings at CGSR! I love where I work and my colleagues. CGSR is an ideal home to learn nat sec policy breadth and depth at a national lab where big science is occurring around every corner. Reach out with questions. https://t.co/Ydzco8Mzxm
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I have almost no presence here but I cannot praise @mattsheehan88's work enough.
Very happy to share my new paper: “Tracing the Roots of China's AI Regulations” I go deep explaining how the sausage got made: how 🇨🇳 bureaucrats, academics, journalists, tech co's, and 🇺🇸+🌍 debates shaped Chinese AI governance. 🧵 w/ some highlights! https://t.co/01L73WkytT
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In @TheMessenger , @KenWeinstein and I warn of Chinese grey-zone opportunism. Combating PRC disinformation requires US/partners to "downgrade & share" in real-time, and to "name & shame" PRC aggression against competitors and global south "friends." https://t.co/62npFWXJJ6
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One takeaway esp for cyber and cryptography: quantum computing may enable breakthroughs for biotech & other industries well before a q computer can compromise encryption. Ingenuity and luck could reverse that order, but we shouldn't lose focus on disruption forest/trees.
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My chapter on S&T competition and China's quantum ecosystem for the @TheWilsonCenter 22-23 China Initiative is up. It was an honor to contribute and take a deep dive in quantum, a delightfully confusing tech.
wilsoncenter.org
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Fantastic piece by Bronte, and I'll be speaking about these issues this afternoon at a @HudsonInstitute talk
In my piece for @ForeignPolicy I argue investment from the 🇺🇸 semiconductor industry in the 🇦🇺 and 🇬🇧quantum computing industry can facilitate access to the advanced manufacturing capabilities needed to develop quantum computing technologies. @ASPI_DC
https://t.co/qzFUJxw8nN
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