Innovation Files Blog

As of November 2025, with over 400 data centers currently under development, the construction industry is facing a shortage of roughly 439,000 workers.

The Grok bikini controversy highlights real harms from AI misuse, but it also shows that the right response is enforcing existing laws, holding bad actors accountable, and pursuing tech-neutral, proportionate policies—rather than rushing into broad, AI-specific regulation that risks undermining free expression and innovation.

Amid all the chaos and upheaval that came with the year just finished, one could easily be forgiven for failing to notice the wealth of positive developments in biotechnology. But there was plenty to report, especially on the agriculture front.

A report finds that firms that are 125 miles from the closest AI hotspot, defined as an area with over 1000 AI publications or patents, experienced 17 percent lower AI job growth between 2007 and 2019.

If the year ahead in technology and innovation policy lives up to its potential, it could be a consequential one because there is a long list of important issues on the table. Herein, we offer 10 that are on top of our minds.

The United States increasingly relies on foreign talent, specifically temporary visa holders who earn STEM degrees at American universities, to fill critical roles in advanced industries. Policymakers should implement an expedited green card process for these individuals, particularly in computer science and engineering, to ensure U.S. competitiveness and retain this highly skilled workforce.

If South Korea seeks a globally credible competition law framework, it should avoid implementing a model of digital antitrust regulation that is, in many ways, even more intrusive than the EU's Digital Markets Act.

The International Monetary Fund found that the Chinese yuan is significantly undervalued, with Goldman Sachs estimating that the value of the currency is 25 percent below what is expected.

New research from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that venture capital investment and advanced technology adoption are closely linked to higher employment and productivity. VC-backed, technology-adopting firms account for a disproportionately large share of U.S. jobs, even as venture investment has declined since 2021.

One way to gauge how U.S. firms engage globally is by examining receipts from the rest of the world as a share of GDP. Policymakers should track foreign receipts as a share of GDP as a standard indicator of how U.S. firms’ global activity is evolving and whether it aligns with national economic interests.