GovAI U.S. AI Policy Program

The GovAI U.S. AI Policy Program is a bipartisan, part-time program designed to accelerate or launch careers in U.S. AI policy. Over the course of the 12 week program, participants will build a technically-informed understanding of the AI policy landscape. During weekly sessions, participants will also have the opportunity to learn alongside, and network with, other highly motivated professionals, and ask questions of leading experts in the AI policy and governance field. The program – which is open to U.S. policy professionals across government and think tanks – emphasizes bipartisan engagement, rigorous analysis, and practical policy relevance. The program will run from early September to early December 2026, with a break for the week of Thanksgiving. It is designed to be accessible for participants in full-time roles, with a weekly time commitment of five hours per week (3 hours of independent reading and 2 hours of synchronous sessions scheduled after regular working hours). The program is offered free of any charge and in-person participants are provided with dinner. The GovAI U.S. AI Policy Program is structured around guided discussion sessions relating to artificial intelligence and the policy issues it poses, with an emphasis on issues associated with general-purpose AI. Topics covered include, but are not limited to: how general-purpose AI systems are developed; the inputs to AI development, including energy, chips, and data centers; how AI may affect productivity, scientific discovery, and economic growth; how AI may impact national security and great power competition; corporate self-governance efforts; AI regulations in other jurisdictions; and federal and state AI regulatory proposals in the U.S. In addition to guided discussion sessions, participants will also be presented with weekly opportunities to ask questions of world-leading experts about AI development, policy, and governance. Prior guest speakers have included White House Office of Science and Technology Policy staffers; former employees of frontier AI development companies; and experts who have helped draft U.S. state- and federal-level AI policy proposals. The time commitment is approximately five hours per week, broken up as follows: Two hours per week for synchronous sessions. These sessions will be scheduled after working hours on a weekday evening (EST). Participants can either join the synchronous sessions in-person at GovAI’s D.C. office near DuPont Circle or attend remotely. Remote participants will be asked to join with their cameras on. In-person participants will be served dinner.* Three hours per week to prepare for synchronous sessions by reading assigned content and/or listening to assigned podcast episodes. The assigned material will be circulated via syllabus before the program begins. The materials are all free to access. To list program completion on their resume, participants will need to: (1) attend 9 of 12 sessions; (2) write a short policy memo or op-ed; and (3) pass an interview-based exam related to program materials. Eligible participants include executive and legislative branch staff, including fellows, interns, detailees, military personnel, and national laboratory personnel; and policy researchers and affiliates at think tanks. We will purposefully select participants at a range of seniority levels, and welcome applications from promising junior staff. We will preferentially select people in the D.C. metropolitan area. Participants do not have to currently cover AI as part of their portfolio, but should aspire to a career in U.S. tech or national security policy. GovAI is committed to intellectual diversity and bipartisanship. Our program brings together fellows with a range of perspectives and political backgrounds to work on the shared AI policy challenges facing the United States, and we are dedicated to fostering good-faith engagement across political lines. The selection process has two stages: Candidates apply online by answering six brief biographical questions; uploading a resume; answering two verbal reasoning questions; and uploading an approximately 7 minute video explaining their interest in the program. Selected candidates will be invited for a 30 min interview in July. We expect to make final decisions and notify selected participants in early August. If you need a decision communicated by a particular date, please contact [email removed - click apply for more details].