Dennis Murphy
Sixth-year PhD candidate, International Affairs, Science, and Technology
Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology
I study how and under what circumstances frontier AI affects the balance of military power between the United States and China.
I am a PhD candidate in International Affairs, Science, and Technology at Georgia Tech’s Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, where I study the material foundations of artificial intelligence and what they mean for international security. My dissertation seeks to answer how and under what circumstances frontier AI affects the balance of military power between the United States and China. During my PhD candidacy, I have had the opportunity to further my research at a wide variety of world renown institutions.
Before starting my PhD I earned a Master of Law in Chinese Politics and Foreign Policy from Tsinghua University in Beijing and a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies and International Economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS, following a BA in International Studies from American University and an AA at Middlesex Community College. During my PhD studies, I also completed a graduate certificate in Aerospace Systems. My work bridges topics related to technology, security, China studies, and political economy.
I am currently supported through the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s Graduate Research Fellowship program. In addition, I am also a Predoctoral Fellow in International Security at Harvard’s Belfer Center, a Graduate Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Risk and Security Lab, and a Security Fellow at the Frontier Security Institute. I have held research positions with the RAND Corporation, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Center for Global Security Research, Cambridge ERA, the O’Brien Notre Dame International Security Center, and the Astra Program hosted in Berkeley. My writing has appeared in Survival, the Journal of Cyber Policy, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics SciTech Forum, The Daily Beast, Strategy Bridge, and The Conversation.
Affiliations
- Predoctoral Fellow in International Security, Belfer Center, Harvard University
- Graduate Research Fellow, Georgia Tech Research Institute
- Research Fellow, Frontier Security Institute
- Graduate Fellow, UC Berkeley Risk & Security Lab
- Cognitive Security Task Force Member, Stanford HAI
- Adjunct Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation
- Technology Policy
- International Security
- Economic Statecraft
- AI Security
- Compute Governance
Dissertation Committee
Research
Journal Articles
- The Geopolitics of Compute in the Aftermath of the AI Diffusion Framework
- The Fourth Industrial Revolution and International Security
Preprints
- An Independent Safety Evaluation of Kimi K2.5
RAND Reports
- CDAO Responsible AI Workforce DevelopmentUNDER REVIEW
- Rebalancing the Information Ecosystem and Renewing Shared Societal Commitments for Information Use
- Assessing the Value of a CERN for AI
- Why the Decline of Local Media Could Be a Security Risk
- Threats to Critical Infrastructure: A Survey
- Defending the United States Against Critical Infrastructure Attacks: Exploring a Hypothetical Campaign of Cascading Impacts
Conference Papers
- Have We Been Here Before? Second Mover Advantages in China's AI Market
- The Geopolitics of Compute
- Contested Logistics Operating Under Digital Support
- JADC2 in a Contested Logistics Environment: The Role of Digital Twins
- Generating Geopolitics: Generative Artificial Intelligence and International Security
- Employing a Shared Space Information Sharing Ecosystem as a Mechanism for Promoting Constructive U.S.-China Space Relations
- The White Horse Lord: Gongsun Zan and the Early Medieval Transition
- North American Telecommunications Modernization
Presentations & Talks
- Chokepoints in the Global Semiconductor Supply Chain
- China's AI Advantages
- Losing the Race? China's Compute Indigenization Efforts
- China's Compute Indigenization Efforts
- Deep Ignorance: You Can Filter Away CBRN Risks
- Critical Uncertainties in China's Approach to AI Safety and Escalatory Risks
- The Geopolitics of Compute
- Governing AI in a Free Society
- Generative Artificial Intelligence and International Security
- The Polar Silk Road
- CERN For AI? Three Visions
- The Market for Fakes: Authenticity and Uncertainty in AI-Enabled Disruption of Signaling in International Politics
- Critical Infrastructure Wargame Research Support
- Contested Logistics Operating Under Digital Support
- Minerva Initiative Research Support on Russian Coercion and Great Power Competition
- Assessing US-China Relations
Teaching
- Morgenthau Grand Strategy Seminar — "Export Controls, Economic Statecraft, and Grand Strategy"
- Online Masters Program — "Geopolitics of Cybersecurity"
- Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience — "The Polar Silk Road"
- Special Topics in Computer Science — "Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience"
- Whittier Elementary Guest School Teacher — "PeaceKidz Seminar"
Professional Development
- Graduate Student Fellowship, Georgia Tech Research Institute
- Predoctoral Fellowship in International Security, Harvard Belfer Center
- Graduate Research Fellow, UC Berkeley Risk and Security Lab
- Hans J. Morgenthau Predoctoral Fellowship in Grand Strategy, O'Brien Notre Dame International Security Center
- Summer Workshop on the Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy
- Bridging the Gap NEW Era Workshop
- International Policy Scholars Consortium and Network Junior Scholars Program
- Council on Foreign Relations Young Policy Professionals Briefing Series
- Clements Center Summer Seminar in History and Statecraft Fellowship
- UC San Diego Nuclear Threats and Public Policy Boot Camp
Public Writing
- Why Iran targeted Amazon data centers and what that does — and doesn't — change about warfare
- Deciphering Russia's Playbook: Lessons From the Lead-Up to Putin's War in Ukraine
- Sorting Through the Noise: The Evolving Nature of the Fog of War
- The Homunculi Are Coming: GPT-2 and GANs Will Enable Automated Disinformation