Government and Industry Collaboration on Emerging Technologies

Stanford Frontier Technology Lab hosted a dinner salon at the private dining room of Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco. The highlight of the event was a lively discussion on how government and industry can and should collaborate to ensure successful development and deployment of emerging technologies.

Stanford Frontier Technology Lab's Ernestine Fu launched the evening with special remarks. Dr. Fu spoke on the importance of connecting private sector innovation with public good, as well as the unique capacity of our nation to solve the most pressing challenges facing everyday citizens, armed forces, and government agencies.

The evening's discussion covered a wide variety of topics, from vaccine passports, to the geopolitics of 5G, to the digital supply chain, and to ethical standards for AI. Attendees addressed questions like:

• How should we think about balancing an individual's right to control their personal information vs. public benefits?

• What role should the government play in regulating the digital supply chain?

• Does the rapid advancement of AI, especially AGI, make it hard for governments to intervene until it is too late?

• What are the ethical, security, and legal considerations of additive manufacturing?

While questions like these were not unequivocally resolved, the discussions and connections fostered during the event helped inform leaders from both technology and the public sector.

Attendees included investors at Atlantic Bridge, Brave Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Lux Capital, VR Fund, and Andreessen Horowitz. Leaders from think tanks and advocacy groups like New America, 21st Century Alliance, and Silicon Valley Leadership Group were also in attendance, along with government officials from the Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit and International Space Station.