Buffett Symposium: AI & Geopolitics

AI has become a key driver of geopolitical competition, with countries vying for technological supremacy and economic dominance. The potential of AI technologies to revolutionize industries, enhance military capabilities and shape societal norms has far-reaching implications for the disruption of traditional geopolitical balances. As AI development accelerates, it poses unique and mounting challenges to governance frameworks, raising urgent questions about international regulation and cooperation.
What are the geopolitical risks and opportunities associated with AI development? What strategies are being developed to prevent the misuse of AI? How can states promote responsible and ethical AI development to shape the future of AI in a way that benefits humanity?
Join us for our winter quarter Buffett Symposium on AI and Geopolitics convening leading strategists, researchers and policymakers to discuss the transformative opportunities and profound challenges that AI poses in geopolitics. Our speakers will offer insights on how AI technologies influence global power dynamics, national security, economic development, international relations and more, exploring the role that international governance and cooperation will play in its future.
Co-organized by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, Northwestern Security & AI Lab (NSAIL) and Insight Centre at University College Cork.

David Bray

• Former Chief Information Security Officer of the US Federal Communications Commission

Daniel Byman

• Professor in Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service and Director of Georgetown's Security Studies Program
• Director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Yaron Gamburg

• Research Associate in the Russia program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv
• Head of Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Israel to the USA (2015–2018) and Deputy Chief of Mission to International Organizations in Paris (2019–2022)

Johan Harvard

• Global AI Advisory Lead at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

Juha Heikkilä

• Adviser for Artificial Intelligence in the European Commission Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology

Sandeep Mehta

• Former Chief Technology Officer of The Hartford Insurance
• Member of the advisory board of the Ethical AI Governance Group

Romain Murenzi

• Professor of Physics at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Until November 2023, the Executive Director of The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries, a UNESCO programme unit
• From 2001–2009, Rwanda’s Minister of Education, Science and Technology and Scientific Research

Barry O’Sullivan

• Professor in the School of Computer Science & IT at University College Cork (UCC)
• Director of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at UCC and Director of the SFI Centre for Research Training in AI
• Appointed in 2018 to the Vice Chair of the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on AI, which developed the EU's approach to Trustworthy AI and its associated policy and investment frameworks

Ruby Scanlon

• Research assistant for the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, supporting the Center’s research on US-China technology competition, China's innovation ecosystem and AI policy

V.S. Subrahmanian

• Walter P. Murphy Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering
• Faculty Fellow at Northwestern University's Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs
• Head of the Northwestern Security & AI Lab (NSAIL)

Maria Vanina Martinez

• Tenured scientist at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (IIIA-CSIC) in Barcelona
• Member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Body on AI

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Northwestern Buffett Event Space, 1800 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, United States