This course will examine national and international policy efforts to respond to and shape rapid advancements in artificial intelligence capabilities and applications. We will study the strategies of the major players when it comes to harnessing the benefits and managing the risks of AI – the U.S., China, the European Union, the U.K., India, Japan, the ROK, and the Gulf nations, as well as countries in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. We will go in depth on the U.S.’ and China’s respective approaches to what both see as an AI race – including the “promote” side (e.g., public investment and national champions) and the “protect” side (e.g. export controls) – while also exploring the two countries’ calculus on placing guardrails around the development and diffusion of AI. We will consider the range of proposed normative/regulatory frameworks for AI, from U.S. voluntary commitments to the European Union AI Act, to the series of safety summits launched at Bletchley Park in 2023, to U.S. and PRC initiatives at the United Nations. The goal of the course will be to illuminate strategy and policy choices and tradeoffs with respect to a revolutionary technology that will shape not only economics and society, but geopolitics. It will be practice-oriented, placing students in the seats of decision-makers and asking them to see these choices, tradeoffs, and strategies from their vantage point. Students will be asked to participate in in-class structured debates and presentations; to submit short writing assignments during the term; and to take a final exam.
This course is open by instructor consent. Students interested in taking this course must submit an application form by 5:00PM EST on Friday, August 28, 2026.
Permission of the instructor required. Students interested in taking this course must submit an application form (https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6X9h2TA0fdpwv1Y) by 5:00PM EST on Friday, August 28, 2026.