RAND lays out US superintelligence strategy; human brain tissue grown in mouse skulls
Import AI (Jack Clark) · rss · 2026-09-21
Import AI 473 highlights two major stories:
RAND's US superintelligence strategy
- RAND argues that given deep uncertainty about the AI takeoff path, the US should adopt a "Freedom of Action" strategy—spending now to preserve options.
- Four pillars: build a human-AI ecosystem (safety, preserving human agency), an AI-security architecture (visibility into frontier systems and compute, agreement verification), overhauling legacy national-security institutions, and building societal response capacity.
- Seven archetypal strategies in three families: Coexistence (dominance, co-development with China, preparedness), Denial (verifiable moratorium, deterrence/destruction of foreign programs, continuity of society), and Acceleration (relying on markets to produce safety).
- Five key uncertainties: danger proximity, coexistence feasibility, restraint feasibility, decisive strategic advantage, and suppression feasibility.
- Jack Clark's take: current US policy resembles the Acceleration path—upgrading the engine while installing no seatbelts, headlights, or brakes.
Human brain tissue grown in mice
- Researchers genetically depleted glutamatergic neurons in mouse neocortex/hippocampus, then engrafted human stem-cell-derived cortical organoids, creating "xenocortical" mice.
- Human neurons integrated functionally into the mouse nervous system; behavior (via MoSeq) placed XCX mice between controls and brain-depleted mice.
- Maze memory tests showed XCX and control mice performed above chance; grafts enriched human-specific L5-ET neuron genes, including VEN-related markers.
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