Today Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Advisor from 2021-2025 joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss AI as a critical national security issue.

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Today Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Advisor from 2021-2025 joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss AI as a critical national security issue.

Check out our sponsors: Labelbox, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Shopify.

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- Four-Category Framework: Sullivan organizes his thinking about AI into security, economics, society, and technology categories rather than focusing primarily on existential risks
- "Managed Competition" with China: He advocates for a model where the US and China "compete like hell" while maintaining sufficient guardrails to prevent conflict
- Skepticism of Grand Bargains: Competition is a "chronic condition" of the US-China relationship that cannot be solved with a strategic condominium
- AI in Modern Warfare: Current conflicts are providing "glimpses of the future" with lessons about scale, attritability, and the potential for autonomous weapons
- US Military Adoption Concerns: Sullivan worries that Pentagon bureaucracy prevents rapid AI adoption while China's PLA may be better positioned to integrate AI capabilities
- Private Sector Leadership: AI is "the first technology with such profound national security applications that the government really had very little to do with"

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CHAPTERS:
(00:00) About the Episode
(04:52) Introduction and AI Worldview
(07:15) Washington's AI Understanding
(14:28) Concrete AI Opportunities
(22:09) Trump AI Action Plan (Part 1)
(22:19) Sponsors: Labelbox | Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
(24:55) Trump AI Action Plan (Part 2)
(29:09) Middle East AI Deals (Part 1)
(34:09) Sponsor: Shopify
(36:06) Middle East AI Deals (Part 2)
(36:54) Understanding China Threat
(48:26) Export Controls Strategy
(59:39) Global AI Competition
(01:02:26) Managing Great Power Competition
(01:08:46) AI in Modern Warfare
(01:10:41) Final Thoughts Economic Impact
(01:12:25) Outro

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