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Ben Buchanan

Professor and former White House Special Advisor on AI
Biography

Ben Buchanan is an expert in the intersection of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and statecraft. He is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he teaches the AI and National Security course and contributes to research on emerging technologies' implications for global security.

 

Previously, Ben served as Special Advisor for Artificial Intelligence on the National Security Council at the White House. He held key roles as Director for Technology and National Security and Assistant Director at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. At Georgetown University, Ben was the Director of the CyberAI Project at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), a Senior Faculty Fellow, and an Assistant Teaching Professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service.

 

Ben is the author of two influential books, The Hacker and the State: Cyber Attacks and the New Normal of Geopolitics (Harvard University Press, 2020) and The Cybersecurity Dilemma (Oxford University Press, 2017). His academic work includes journal articles on artificial intelligence, cyber deterrence, cryptography, election security, and the dynamics of malicious code among state and non-state actors. A prolific contributor to War on the Rocks and Lawfare, his writing has also appeared in The Washington Post.

 

Ben earned his Ph.D. in War Studies as a Marshall Scholar at King’s College London, following master’s and undergraduate degrees from Georgetown University. His expertise and leadership have made him a thought leader in addressing the challenges of emerging technologies in national and international security.

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