Compute Policy
About
The Compute Policy team explores novel interventions and strategic considerations for managing access to massive AI compute resources. Current focus areas include:
Technical mechanisms for enforcement of U.S. export controls
Hardware-enabled mechanisms
Information and supply chain security
Featured Research
Location Verification for AI Chips
This report introduces a design for a mechanism that can work on existing chips and verify their location to help enforce export control agreements, while being privacy preserving and reasonably tamper-proof.
Countering AI Chip Smuggling Has Become a National Security Priority
This new report catalogues evidence that substantial quantities of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips are being smuggled into China, undermining U.S. national security.
Accelerating AI Data Center Security
AI systems are advancing at breakneck speed and already reshaping markets, geopolitics, and the priorities of governments. This report reviews the security of AI data centers housing frontier AI systems, which are potential targets for sophisticated adversaries like China and Russia seeking to steal IP or sabotage infrastructure.
Understanding Compute Policy
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Compute is a Strategic Resource
Computational power (“compute”) is a strategic resource in the way that oil and steel production capacity were in the past. Just as oil and steel were and remain strategic resources to some extent, compute is now also a strategic resource of very high importance.
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Promoting the Stack: Trump’s AI Export Incentive Program Explained
Alongside its AI Action Plan, the Trump administration published an executive order (EO) for Promoting the Export of the American AI Technology Stack. This blog explains the program and how it may be implemented.
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How AI Chips Are Made
Over the past decade, advances in AI have been driven by the use of more and more sophisticated AI hardware. This blog post introduces the core concepts and background information needed to understand the AI chip-making process.
Featured Experts
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Onni Aarne
CONSULTANT
Onni is an expert on location verification. He previously conducted compute governance research at Rethink Priorities and has a BSc in computer science and an MSc in data science from the University of Helsinki.
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Asher Brass
RESEARCHER
Asher is an expert on location verification. Before joining IAPS, Asher was Head of the Cyber Analysis Team at Cynerio, a medical device cybersecurity start-up. Asher has a BA in Political Science and International Relations from The Open University of Israel.
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Amanda El-Dakhakhni
ACTING CO-DIRECTOR
Amanda oversees IAPS’ compute governance and external affairs work. Previously, she served in policy and legal roles in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Obama-Biden White House. Amanda earned a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Erich Grunewald
RESEARCHER
Erich is a Researcher in the compute governance team at IAPS. He previously worked as a programmer and earned a BSc in Computer Engineering and an MSc in Interaction Design from Chalmers University of Technology.
More Research
Curious about IAPS’s work?
Advanced AI systems pose both immense opportunities and complex challenges. IAPS addresses these with practical policy solutions at the intersection of AI policy and national security through in-depth policy research.