The Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) is a non-partisan U.S. think tank and private foundation focused on technology and security. Founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt in October 2021,[1][2] SCSP's stated mission is to "make recommendations to strengthen America’s long-term competitiveness as artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies are reshaping our national security, economy, and society." It seeks to ensure that "America is positioned and organized to win the techno-economic competition between now and 2030."[3]
SCSP is also a subsidiary of The Eric & Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, the Schmidt family's private foundation.[4][5][6]
History
Inspired by the Rockefeller Special Studies Project launched in the 1950s and led by Henry Kissinger,[7] SCSP seeks to expand on the work of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) by including other emerging technologies and issues of concern in its analyses.[8] The NSCAI was dissolved on 1 October 2021,[9] and Eric Schmidt announced the SCSP initiative four days later. Much of the NSCAI staff became members of the SCSP.[10]
Leadership
As of December 2023, SCSP's president and CEO is Ylli Bajraktari, former executive director of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI). Former NSCAI Chief of Staff Michael Gable serves as executive vice president, and former NSCAI Director of Operations and Designated Federal Officer Angela Ponmakha serves as vice president and Chief of Staff. There are 30 full-time staff members, including senior director for economy Liza Tobin, who formerly served as director for China at the White House National Security Council from 2019 to 2021.[11][12][13]
Activities
SCSP's core work is divided into six panels, including: foreign policy, intelligence, defense, economy, society, and future tech platforms.[14]
In 2023, SCSP hosted NatSecTech workshops at several universities that examined the global competition between the U.S. and China and how it will affect future society, economy, and defense.[20][21] SCSP and the RAND Corporation collaborated on a series of wargames in 2023 that simulated a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan to explore new technological options for Taiwan's defense, focusing on the integration of commercial technologies into military strategies.[22] In May 2023, SCSP hosted the Ash Carter Exchange on Innovation and National Security attended by senior U.S. defense officials.[23][24] In September 2023, SCSP hosted the 2023 Global Emerging Technology Summit, for which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered video remarks.[25][26]
In late-November 2023, SCSP launched a joint project on "Artificial Intelligence, Human-Machine Teaming, and the Future of Intelligence Analysis” with ASPI in Canberra.[29]
Mid-Decade Challenges to National Competitiveness, September 2022[35][36][37] In its coverage of the report, Axios wrote: "From SCSP's perspective, the geopolitical, technological, and ideological futures are all deeply interrelated: "By the end of this decade, we will know if we will live in a world shaped by free expression, tolerance, and self-determination or dictated by censorship and coercion."[38]
