AI Safety Forum Australia
William Smith

William Smith

Project Assistant, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research (ANU)

About

William Smith is a Project Assistant at the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research in the Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University. He was a Research Fellow at the Cambridge AI Research Hub and has written on AI governance for Crikey. He is also completing Honours in philosophy at The Australian National University.

AcademiaStudent (undergrad/masters)Law/policy/governancePhilosophy

Speaking at AI Safety Forum 2026

Trusted Trade and the AI Stack

8 July 2026 · 12:01 pm – 12:06 pm · Cullenlightning

This talk examines how ‘trusted trade’ logic has begun to shape AI supply chains: the idea that economic exchange should be organised preferentially between strategically aligned states. Historically, this logic has governed military technologies, but advanced AI extends it into the non-military domain. The talk traces this shift and asks what it means for AI governance, where trade policy may help determine both the pace and the geography of frontier AI development.