Joshua MarcuseSenior Associate (Non-resident), Wadhwani AI Center
Think tank · Policy · Washington, DC · Est. 2023
The CSIS Wadhwani AI Center is a research and policy program within the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) focused on how artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies intersect with national security, geopolitics, economic competitiveness, and global governance. Since its establishment in 2023, the center has positioned itself as a high-impact source of AI policy analysis for U.S. government officials and international partners, including work delivered through congressional testimony, private briefings, and published reports.
Programmatically, the center runs research and convenings that map AI governance and regulation, the geopolitics of advanced technology (including semiconductor export-control and economic-security questions), and the national-security/defense implications of AI and autonomy. Leadership currently rests with Aalok Mehta, who became director in November 2025; he oversees the center’s projects and research across a range of AI-policy topics. A signature public-facing format is CSIS’s “AI Policy Podcast,” which is hosted by the Wadhwani AI Center director and covers regulation, economic impacts, national security, geopolitics, and related AI-policy topics.
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Fiji played host to the inaugural Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) on August 5–7.
Hills Governance Update: Mexico's Road to TransparencySoutheast Asia from the Corner of 18th & K Streets: Engaging Myanmar’s Military: Carpe Diem Part IIAs Myanmar seeks to shed its pariah status and reengages with the world, the country’s military—its most powerful institution—has become a focal point for policymakers across Asia and in the West.
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Southeast Asia from the Corner of 18th and K Streets: Obama's Asia Trip: Go or No?The White House faces a fundamental dilemma today: Can President Barack Obama leave for his geopolitically vital Asia trip, planned to begin this Saturday, if the U.S. government is still shut down?
CSIS listed an Economic Security and Technology-hosted rapid roundup focusing on next steps after “Pace the AI Frontier.”
Recent work: “The AI Industry Is Coalescing on ‘Pacing the Frontier.’ Will It Actually Change Anything?”CSIS highlighted a commentary by Aalok Mehta describing what government and industry need to do to translate calls to pace AI development into durable change.
AI Policy Podcast hosting transition: Gregory C. Allen departs CSIS; Aalok Mehta becomes new hostCSIS published an episode announcing the transition to Aalok Mehta as the new host of the AI Policy Podcast and confirming Gregory C. Allen’s departure from CSIS.
Director appointment: Aalok Mehta named Director of the Wadhwani AI CenterCSIS announced that Aalok Mehta joined CSIS’s Economic Security and Technology Department as director of the Wadhwani AI Center, outlining the center’s AI leadership priorities across the AI stack, economic impacts/workforce, and governance amid global competition.