Category: intelligence

This commentary was originally published by Los Angeles Times on January 7, 2026. A year ago Los Angeles woke up to a red sky. Schools closed, and families packed into cars not knowing when or if they would return. In the end many couldn’t. The series of destructive fires that lasted throughout January also hurt… Continue reading Tech Can Avert Catastrophic Fires. What’s Missing Is Coordination

Holiday rituals and gatherings offer something precious: the promise of connecting to something greater than ourselves, whether friends, family, or the divine. But in the not-too-distant future, artificial intelligence—having already disrupted industries, relationships, and our understanding of reality—seems poised to reach even further into these sacred spaces. People are increasingly using AI to replace talking… Continue reading Are AI Companies Actually Ready to Play God?

Generative artificial intelligence is quickly spreading through U.S. public schools. Between the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 school years, the share of K–12 teachers using gen AI for work doubled—from 25% to 53%. Pre-kindergarten teachers have been slower to adopt these tools. Our recent national survey of 1,586 public school pre-K teachers found that only 29% used… Continue reading Pre-K Teachers Are Hesitant to Use Artificial Intelligence—Why?

After decades inside the halls of the Pentagon and the White House Situation Room, Barry Pavel has witnessed global power shifts firsthand. Now, as vice president and director of the RAND National Security Research Division, Pavel and his team help policymakers navigate a world where geopolitical tensions are rising and technology is redefining how nations… Continue reading From AI to the Arctic, Understanding the Future of Security: Q&A with Barry  Pavel

RAND’s purpose has always been straightforward. We tackle the hardest problems. We answer the toughest questions. In times of risk and uncertainty, we help policymakers make informed, robust decisions. In 2025, that meant helping to build an even stronger, more ready, and more effective military. It meant helping decisionmakers understand and prepare for the risks… Continue reading 2025 RAND Wrap-Up: Research That Defined Our Year

This commentary was originally published by The National Interest on December 12, 2025. The rising electricity demands of artificial intelligence (AI) have dominated recent headlines. Policymakers and utilities alike are scrambling to understand how the rapid expansion of AI data centers will reshape the power grid. But there’s a quieter story unfolding in parallel: the… Continue reading How Ignoring Non-AI Demand Risks the Electric Grid

In Shanghai, jobless young professionals are paying $5 a day to sit beneath fluorescent lights at the aptly named Pretend to Work Co., one of many faux offices across the city that offer Wi-Fi, coffee, and the illusion of employment. Likely no more than a few blocks away, rural migrant workers sleep in shifts in… Continue reading China Is Worried About AI Job Losses

The war in Ukraine has exposed a critical front long neglected by Western militaries: electromagnetic warfare (EW). Control over this invisible battlespace, where communications are jammed, drones blinded, and precision weapons thrown off course, can decide the outcome of a conflict. Russia has understood this sooner than NATO, using EW to isolate Ukrainian units, disrupt… Continue reading Electromagnetic Warfare: NATO’s Blind Spot Could Decide the Next Conflict

Despite limits on some U.S. aid and a mushrooming corruption scandal, Ukrainians appear more confident. Europeans are stepping up support. Ukraine is leading in drone innovation and Russia is seizing only slivers of land and cannot land a decisive blow, even if the eastern city of Pokrovsk falls. Although Western help is essential, Ukrainians now… Continue reading Ukrainians: Resilient and More Confident