Matt Sheehan is a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his research covers global technology issues with a focus on China. His research projects explore China’s artificial intelligence ecosystem, the future of Chinese technology policy, and the role of technology in China’s political economy. Matt is the author of The Transpacific Experiment: How China and California Collaborate and Compete for our Future (Counterpoint Press, 2019).
From 2010-2016 Matt lived and worked in China, including as the first China correspondent for the World Post. After returning from China, Matt worked as a fellow at the Paulson Institute's think tank, MacroPolo, where he led research on Chinese technology issues. In 2018, he was selected as a finalist for the Young China Watcher of the Year award.
His writing has been published by the Atlantic, Bloomberg, Vice, and Wired. His research has been cited by numerous government agencies and media outlets, including the National Security Commission on AI, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Matt reads, writes, and speaks Mandarin Chinese.
China has a rich landscape of homegrown AI products, where progress is being led by tech giants like search engine Baidu and TikTok’s owner, ByteDance. So already there is a bifurcation in the AI worlds of China and the West.
Beijing’s AI safety concerns are higher on the priority list, but they remain tied up in geopolitical competition and technological advancement.
Ideological conflict between “pro-open” and “anti-open” camps is receding. Carnegie gathered leading experts from a wide range of perspectives to identify common ground and help reset AI governance debates.
An explanation on why China’s tech success stories are turning established narratives on democratic freedoms and innovation on their head.
How face swap apps, investigative journalism, and corporate thought leadership shaped governance.
Despite the summit’s modest expectations, Carnegie fellows saw welcomed outcomes on economic, military, and AI issues.
It’s the latest in a long tradition of California officials engaging with China on climate issues.
Over the past two years, China has enacted some of the world’s earliest and most sophisticated regulations targeting AI.
California is ground zero for engagement.
A conversation about how the public, corporations, academia, and civil society end up directly influencing some of China’s most important regulations.
