Innovation Files Blog

Major agreements, new participants, and key diplomatic and industrial milestones in the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, which aims to secure global supply chains that underpin AI and other advanced technologies.

According to the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Earned Doctorates, the number of science and engineering research doctorates awarded by U.S. universities increased 13.6 percent, from 41,247 in 2015 to 46,876 in 2025.

Policymakers should withdraw the proposed $70,000 Optional Practical Training fee and pursue targeted reforms that address fraud without driving away the scientists and engineers the United States needs.

Pew’s proposed broadband policies put government subsidies and mandates ahead of private investment, competition, and innovation which risks higher costs and worse outcomes for consumers.

The EU’s proposed KIDS ACT risks isolating children from valuable online communities through sweeping restrictions that fail to address specific harms or provide better alternatives.

Pricing software can facilitate collusion, but the relevant question is how firms use it. Policymakers should target practices that undermine competition rather than prohibit a technology with legitimate uses.

Research using the Real-Time Population Survey finds that more than 20 percent of workers use generative AI in four out of five detailed occupations. Yet, only one in six occupations has adoption above 70 percent.

Growing opposition to data centers threatens U.S. economic growth, with $260 billion in canceled investments in 2026 potentially costing more than 2 million jobs and $294 billion in economic activity. Policymakers should address local concerns without discouraging responsible data center development.

As AI demand drives memory chip prices to more than triple in 2026, Washington should resist short-term fixes that pick who gets scarce supply or deepen reliance on Chinese producers and instead expand U.S. memory production capacity for the long term.

As smart glasses become more widespread, concerns about privacy and surveillance are prompting calls for bans and new regulations. Rather than imposing technology-specific restrictions, policymakers should use existing laws to address misuse and strengthen privacy protections through comprehensive federal legislation.