Fellowship Syllabus
Policy and Governance
This track covers the foundations of AI governance: policy frameworks, the differing stances of the US, China, and the EU, threats to democratic institutions, the dynamics of international competition and decoupling, and economic and labor impacts. Fellows conclude the program by drafting and defending their own policy briefs. No prior policy experience is required — we welcome students from technical backgrounds looking to build policy literacy, as well as those in the social sciences and humanities engaging with AI-specific governance challenges.
Session 01
Introduction to AI Policy and Governance
What is AI governance, and who shapes it? This session maps the policy landscape: the major frameworks for governing AI, the ethical guidelines proliferating worldwide, and the plans for reducing misalignment risk that different policy choices enable or foreclose.
- AI Benefit-Sharing Framework: Balancing Access and Safety
A framework for distributing the benefits of advanced AI while managing safety risks.
- Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security
The White House's executive action on advanced AI innovation and security.
- A Framework for U.S. AI Governance
MIT's policy brief on creating a safe and thriving AI sector in the United States.
- Worldwide AI Ethics: A Review of 200 Guidelines and Recommendations for AI Governance
Corrêa et al.'s systematic review of the global landscape of AI ethics guidelines.
- Plans A, B, C, and D for Misalignment Risk
Different levels of government intervention suggest different plans and timelines for AI safety.
- Welcome to the AI Policy Map
An interactive map of the institutions and stakeholders shaping US AI policy.
Session 02
International Policy Stances
How do the world's major powers approach AI? This session compares the policy stances of the United States, China, and the European Union — from the White House's acceleration-focused action plan to China's evolving safety posture and the EU's comprehensive regulation — and asks what each approach means for reducing risk.
- America's AI Action Plan
The White House's AI policy agenda, centered on accelerating American AI development, infrastructure, and international competitiveness.
- Policy on the AI Exponential
Dario Amodei argues that exponential AI progress has outpaced the policy process, and proposes mandatory frontier model testing, labor-market preparation, and a coalition of democracies.
- China's New AI Strategy Explained
An overview of China's latest national AI strategy and its priorities.
- How China Views AI Risks and What to Do About Them
The Carnegie Endowment's analysis of how Chinese policymakers and researchers think about AI risk.
- The EU Artificial Intelligence Act
An explainer of the EU AI Act, the world's most comprehensive binding AI regulation.
Session 03
AI and Democracy
How will advanced AI reshape democratic institutions? This session examines AI's effects on elections, public discourse, and state capacity, and the risk that AI-driven economies concentrate power in the hands of the few who control AI and capital.
- How Will Advanced AI Systems Impact Democracy?
Summerfield et al. survey AI's potential effects on democratic processes, from epistemic disruption to institutional destabilization.
- Extreme Power Concentration
On the risk that advanced AI enables unprecedented concentrations of political and economic power.
Session 04
International Competition
This session covers the geopolitics of AI: racing dynamics between the United States and China, deterrence proposals modeled on nuclear strategy, export controls, and the push to decouple AI supply chains.
- Deterrence with Mutual Assured AI Malfunction (MAIM)
Hendrycks, Schmidt, and Wang's proposal for a deterrence regime where states threaten sabotage of destabilizing AI projects, modeled loosely on MAD.
- China, the United States, and the AI Race
The Council on Foreign Relations on the state of US–China competition in AI.
- Decoupling America's Artificial Intelligence Capabilities from China Act of 2025
A Senate bill that would restrict the flow of AI technology and research between the US and China.
- The Outbound Investment Security Program
The US Treasury's program restricting American investment in Chinese semiconductor, quantum, and AI technologies.
Session 05
Economic Policy
How will AI transform work and the economy, and what should policymakers do about it? This session covers AI's labor-market impacts and the policy responses under debate. Fellows then form groups and begin drafting their own policy briefs.
- AI and Our Economic Future
Charles I. Jones surveys how transformative AI could reshape economic growth and welfare.
- Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI
Microsoft Research's study of which occupations are most exposed to generative AI.
- AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act
A Senate bill requiring transparency about AI-driven job displacement.
- Preparing for AI's Economic Impact: Exploring Policy Responses
Anthropic's survey of policy options for managing AI's economic disruption.
Session 06
Policy Brief Defense
Fellows conclude the program by presenting their policy briefs and defending them from peers' critique — a low-stakes session that encourages innovative, ambitious proposals.