The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET) visited the Center for Strategic and International Studies （CSIS） in Washington, D.C., on May 5, 2026. The DSET delegation held a high-level roundtable with Navin Girishankar, President of the Economic Security and Technology Department; Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center; Philip Luck, Director of the Economics Program; Sujai Shivakumar, Director of Renewing American Innovation; and several senior fellows. The discussions focused on emerging technology security issues within the geoeconomic context, specifically AI, advanced packaging, and the robotics industry.
The session was opened by DSET CEO Dr. Jeremy Chih-Cheng Chang, who presented DSET’s recent findings in economic security. Dr. Chang provided an in-depth analysis of China’s current dual-track strategy: pursuing the external evasion of controls while simultaneously accelerating internal advancement. He emphasized that understanding this dual logic is critical for democratic allies to formulate effective and resilient regulatory frameworks and industrial policies. Furthermore, he urged increased collaboration between U.S. and Taiwanese think tanks to jointly monitor China’s technological evasion pathways.
Ines Chung, Policy Analyst in DSET’s Economic Security Research Program, shared her specialized research on advanced packaging. She highlighted that, faced with constraints in front-end advanced nodes, China is aggressively developing advanced packaging and system integration as a strategic parallel track for its compute capabilities. Citing Huawei’s AI products as a case study, she warned that system-level breakout driven by advanced packaging have become a decisive new front in geotechnological competition. Participants also engaged in a vigorous discussion regarding the effectiveness of existing regulatory frameworks and how the U.S. and its allies can strengthen supply chain cooperation in the packaging sector.
DSET Global Fellow Sunny Cheung provided a comprehensive assessment of the global competition in physical AI and the robotics industry. He noted that China currently holds a significant advantage in hardware and mass manufacturing, supported by a highly cost-competitive supply chain. To counter this trend, he emphasized that the U.S. must deepen its cooperation with trusted partners like Taiwan, leveraging their respective strengths in software and hardware. Both parties exchanged views on corporate vertical integration in China, guaranteed market mechanisms, and the critical issues of data collection and security.
The meeting concluded with the CSIS team sharing insights from their Tech Edge research project, underscoring the shared focus of both institutions on geotechnological issues. The roundtable, attended by 12 researchers from both organizations, demonstrated a mutual commitment to deepening collaboration and exchange regarding critical technology defense and economic security policy.
