New CNAS Report Outlines Strategy for US AI Leadership Through Global Partnerships

Washington, Tuesday, July 29, 2025 — Today, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) released a new report, Global Compute and National Security: Strengthening American AI Leadership Through Proactive Partnerships, by Janet Egan. The report argues that the United States should adopt a forward-leaning strategy to maintain its global edge in artificial intelligence (AI) by proactively promoting and securing leadership in AI compute infrastructure and applications.

The report highlights the central role of “compute”—the specialized chips, data centers, and technical infrastructure needed to train and deploy advanced AI systems—as the foundation for sustained AI progress. If current development trends continue, the nation that leads in global compute deployment will shape the norms and rules that govern AI’s use. That makes preserving the U.S. lead in compute a matter of national security.

“Compute is the most effective U.S. lever to shape the global AI landscape,” said Janet Egan, a senior fellow with the CNAS Technology and National Security Program. “To lead in AI, we can’t rely solely on restrictions: we need a strategy that protects the frontier while building trusted partnerships around the world.”

The report acknowledges that recent U.S. actions—including chip export controls and the now rescinded 2025 Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion—have signaled Washington’s intent to protect its AI leadership. But challenges remain. At home, energy constraints and permitting delays threaten large-scale data center expansion. Abroad, chip smuggling, expanding Chinese investment, and growing interest among U.S. allies in non-American compute options risk eroding the U.S. advantage.

To address these headwinds and strengthen long-term U.S. AI leadership, the report outlines a dual strategy of protecting frontier capabilities while promoting secure compute partnerships. Its key policy recommendations to the U.S. government include:

• Harden export controls through stronger enforcement, technology-forward solutions, and engagement with key allies and partners.
• Support the development of and access to valuable downstream AI applications to reduce demand for sovereign frontier compute and to increase the appeal of the United States as the AI partner of choice.
• Use strategic investment vehicles to promote U.S. AI projects and applications overseas.
• Expand engagement with key strategic partners to design mutually beneficial AI partnerships, specifically with:
• The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia: Continue to partner on the development of secure data centers in the Gulf and globally, accompanied by security measures and safeguards that ensure that these nations do not overtake the United States’ lead in AI compute.
• Brazil and India: Through bespoke government-to-government partnerships, leverage their statuses as emerging technology economies with strong AI ambitions to bring them closer into the U.S. orbit.
• Australia and the United Kingdom: Leverage the Australia–United Kingdom–United States trilateral security partnership, AUKUS, to enlist the United States’ closest allies as trusted frontier AI partners, helping overcome U.S. domestic bottlenecks and ensuring that America can continue to benefit from returns to scale.
• Champion technical, privacy-preserving solutions to help address partners’ “sovereignty” concerns.
• Engage in multilateral and standard-setting bodies to build legitimacy and to strengthen AI data center security and risk management.

The report aligns with and builds on recent developments, including the Trump administration’s July 2025 AI Action Plan and its May 2025 announcements of AI agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and frames these efforts as early moves in a broader campaign of compute diplomacy.

The full report is available here.