Vanderbilt University will convene conservative elected officials, prominent military leaders and artificial intelligence executives at its Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats, hosted by the school’s new Institute of National Security on April 10 and 11. Keynote speakers include U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, U.S. Rep. Mark Green, semiconductor chip researcher Chris Miller and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Altman will appear virtually.
Now in its fourth year, the conference focuses broadly on geopolitical threats to American hegemony. Chancellor Daniel Diermeier formerly hosted the event, which now falls under the university’s Institute of National Security, formed last year in coordination with retired Gen. Paul Nakasone. Nakasone and other members of the American military establishment figure prominently in this year’s summit. Admiral Michael Rogers, Lt. Gen. Ed Cardon, Lt. Gen. Charles Moore, and Gen. Glen VanHerck, all retired from active duty, will join high-ranking military officials from Singapore and Japan as featured speakers. The event schedule also includes executives involved in the military drone industry, machine learning and cybersecurity at companies like Microsoft, Anduril and Palantir.
Survey shows 52 percent of party followers aligned with Trump compared to 37 percent in 2023
The high-profile event reflects Vanderbilt’s growing interest in Silicon Valley, artificial intelligence and the national security state under Diermeier, who took over as chancellor in 2020. Both Moore and Nakasone are officially employed by the university via the new institute, which is formally headed by engineering professor Douglas Adams and includes several other professors appointed across various departments.
Stronger ties to tech companies and the military-industrial complex could give Vanderbilt better positioning for lucrative defense and cybersecurity contracts with the federal government. The pivot comes as the federal government shows an increased appetite to arbitrate funding for American universities based on their alignment with President Trump’s politics. Earlier this month, the White House canceled $400 million in funding for Columbia University because it disagreed with how the administration handled student protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Silicon Valley and AI also appear to be a particular interest of Diermeier, who chartered Vanderbilt’s College of Connected Computing last year. He frequently refers to Vanderbilt as a "university of the future" in public appearances.
“Of all the factors shaping society, few are more influential than the rapid emergence of advanced computing, AI and data science,” Diermeier said at the time.
