February 13, 2025
Averting AI Armageddon with Colin Kahl and Jacob Stokes
In recent years, the previous bipolar nuclear order led by the United States and Russia has given way to a more volatile, tripolar one, as China has quantitatively and qualitatively built up its nuclear arsenal. At the same time, there have been significant breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, including for military applications. As a result of these two trends, it is now important to understand and think through the challenges at the AI nuclear nexus, including understanding what our adversaries, China and Russia, are doing in this space. To discuss this and more, Jacob Stokes and Colin Kahl join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend for a special episode of Brussels Sprouts celebrating the launch of a new CNAS report, Averting AI Armageddon: U.S.-China-Russia Rivalry at the Nexus of Nuclear Weapons and Artificial Intelligence.
Colin Kahl is the Stephen C. Házy senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. During the Biden administration, he served as undersecretary of defense for policy.
Jacob Stokes is a senior fellow and deputy director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at CNAS.
More from CNAS
-
A Rearmed Germany's Place in Europe
Today we are taking a closer look at Germany as it returns to military power. As the United States pulls back from Europe and threats of Russian aggression are heightened, Ger...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Sep 18, ’26 Washington Roundtable
On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, f...
By Jim Townsend
-
America’s Secret Weapon in the Nuclear Race
The choice is between an integrated American system that combines public missions with private capital and a fragmented one facing off against China’s coordinated buildup....
By David Feith
-
Russia Provokes NATO ‘Grey Zone’ with ‘Clever Bullying’ Tactic, but It Will Escalate
“Eventually something's going to happen in the escalation. I mean, maybe it's a mass casualty event or something that really gets us out of that grey zone into a real provocat...
By Jim Townsend