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Allied on AI Assurance: AI Alignment Challenges for U.S. and Japanese National Security
June 10, 2026 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
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For an event program and participant list, see here.
Abstract
On June 10, 2026, Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA (through its U.S.-Japan NEXT Alliance Initiative) hosted a roundtable discussion on AI alignment challenges and national security, focusing on the distinct nature of these potential risks and the implications for U.S.-Japan alliance collaboration. As Caleb Withers and his co-authors argue in their recent working paper “Off Target: AI Alignment Challenges for National Security,” the binding constraint on AI potential for the future is most likely to be trust, rather than capabilities alone.[1] The U.S. and Japanese governments have important stakes in bolstering “alignment science” so that they are better able to assess misalignment risk and build trust for wider AI adoption. Withers presented their paper, which examines how AI misalignment creates unique national security risks that require specialized government attention, expertise, and evaluation infrastructure. Then, Dr. Amir Sadovnik from Oak Ridge National Laboratory outlined the lab’s work on AI security from both threat-to and threat-from AI perspectives, emphasizing the need for independent adversarial testing, domain-specific test beds, and understanding how fine-tuning affects model alignment. Follow-on group discussion among two dozen government and non-government experts from the U.S. and Japan explored international collaboration opportunities, with participants discussing the importance of government involvement, realistic test beds, data provenance challenges, and the need for harmonizing evaluation standards among allies. Key concerns raised included the speed of AI development outpacing policy formation, the role of government as both consumer and shaper of AI progress, and the balance between maintaining technical leadership while building trust with allies through information sharing.
[1] Caleb Withers, Jay Kim, and Ethan Chiu, “Off Target: AI Alignment Challenges for National Security,” Center for a New American Security, March 24, 2026, https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/off-target.
