THIS WEEK IN AI GOVERNANCE

The latest in defense, regulation, gov tech & geopolitics

• A new diplomatic role for Singapore in AI governance

• Building regional capacity for AI safety in Africa

• UAE mandates AI education for all students starting fall 2025

• Taiwan’s foreign minister heads to Texas for trade boost amid tariff kerfuffle

• AI job creation challenge looms for China, historian warns

• AI chip tracking bill aims to curb China’s tech access

• AI-powered social media monitoring expands US government reach

• India reviewing copyright law as AI firms face legal challenges

• AI could speed up FDA drug evaluation process

• AI readiness initiative gains expert trainers from the Consortium for School Networking

Funding AI education, industry immersion, and career assistance to those who have served our nation.

What’s happening in AI policy right now

UAE classrooms embrace AI as U.S. takes first steps

Preparing a generation for an AI-powered future

The UAE just raised the stakes in the global race for AI readiness. Starting fall 2025, the country will implement a mandatory AI education program for up to 400,000 students from kindergarten through high school. This comprehensive initiative will span all public and select private schools, featuring 20 lessons per grade level that progress from foundational concepts to advanced applications.

Meanwhile, the United States is taking a more measured approach. A consortium of education experts from eight states has begun developing a train-the-trainer program to help school districts implement AI technologies responsibly, with particular focus on small and rural communities.

These developments highlight a critical inflection point: how nations prepare their youngest citizens for an AI-dominated future will likely determine their economic competitiveness for decades to come.

The stakes couldn't be higher

The UAE's ambitious program arrives at a perfect moment. As Ethan Mollick points out in his analysis of recent AI developments, we're witnessing tremendous leaps in capability. Google's Gemini 1.5 now has a context window that can hold approximately 750,000 words with nearly perfect recall. Companies like Groq have dramatically increased processing speed, allowing for almost instantaneous responses from large language models.

These advancements create what Mollick calls a "rapidly approaching future" requiring organizations to ask themselves important questions about their readiness. The UAE seems to have already answered one crucial question: how to ensure their citizens are prepared to thrive in this new landscape.

By implementing this curriculum, the UAE is addressing what Clayton Christensen might call a critical "job to be done" in education: preparing students for an economy where AI literacy will be as fundamental as reading and writing. This initiative isn't just about teaching technical skills; it's about creating a generation that understands how to work with, think about, and effectively utilize AI technologies.

Beyond coding: A balanced approach

What makes the UAE's curriculum particularly noteworthy is its balanced approach. Students won't just learn to code or use AI tools; they'll explore the ethical implications, study algorithmic bias, and practice prompt engineering—skills that combine technical knowledge with critical thinking.

This approach aligns with what Marc Andreessen describes in his optimistic vision for AI, where the technology becomes "a way to make everything we care about better." The UAE curriculum seems designed to foster what Andreessen calls "AI augmentation of human intelligence," helping students maximize their potential through thoughtful integration of AI into their learning and problem-solving.

For the youngest students, the program wisely includes safeguards to limit screen time and technology exposure, reflecting an understanding that AI education must be age-appropriate and balanced with other developmental needs.

The economic imperative

The UAE's initiative also reflects a clear economic strategy. As the country works to diversify beyond oil and gas, creating a homegrown AI talent pipeline becomes crucial. This mirrors what Max Tegmark describes as "the race to build and run" these technologies, though with a focus on education rather than just deployment.

In the framework developed by Jerry Chen, we might view the UAE as attempting to build new "moats" around its economy—developing unique, defensible advantages through human capital investment rather than just natural resources. By creating a generation of AI-literate citizens, the UAE positions itself to compete in what Chen calls "the next defensible business model."

America's approach: Train the trainers

The American initiative, while less comprehensive than the UAE's nationwide mandate, takes a pragmatic approach to scaling AI education. By training 12 educational technology experts who will then share knowledge with regional educational service agencies, the program creates multiple layers of expertise that can reach even the most remote districts.

This reflects a bottom-up rather than top-down strategy, consistent with the American preference for local educational control. Whether this approach can match the systematic nature of the UAE's program remains to be seen, but it addresses a critical need for AI expertise in education.

Beyond tools: Teaching AI literacy

Both initiatives recognize that AI education isn't just about teaching students to use specific tools. True AI literacy involves understanding how these systems work, their limitations, and how to interact with them effectively.

This connects to what Mustafa Suleyman describes as AI becoming "a new digital species" that humans will increasingly partner with. Teaching students how to think critically about these technologies prepares them for a world where, as Suleyman puts it, "everything will soon be represented by a conversational interface."

What's at stake

The contrast between these programs highlights different pathways to preparing for an AI-transformed economy. The UAE has opted for comprehensive, nationwide implementation; the US is building capacity through targeted expertise development.

Both approaches recognize what's at stake. As AI capabilities advance rapidly, the economic winners will likely be those nations whose citizens can most effectively harness these tools. This isn't just about creating a few AI specialists; it's about ensuring broad AI literacy across the population.

William Oncken's famous metaphor of "monkeys on backs" applies here: by proactively addressing AI education now, these countries are preventing a much larger problem from developing later—a workforce unprepared for an AI-dominated economy.

Looking ahead: Questions and implications

These programs raise important questions about the future of education:

1. How will we measure success in AI education? Test scores won't capture the adaptive thinking and creativity needed to work effectively with AI.

2. What happens in countries that don't implement such programs? Will we see a widening global divide between AI-literate and AI-illiterate populations?

3. How will teacher training evolve to support AI education? Both programs acknowledge this challenge, but solutions remain works in progress.

4. What's the right balance between technical skills and ethical understanding in AI education?

As these programs roll out over the coming years, they'll provide valuable insights for educational systems worldwide. The UAE's bold move sets a benchmark against which other countries will measure their efforts. Meanwhile, the US approach may demonstrate how to scale AI education in a decentralized system.

What's clear is that AI education isn't optional—it's becoming as fundamental as literacy and numeracy. The question isn't whether to teach AI in schools, but how quickly and comprehensively to do so.