• When he applied, Withers planned to investigate a number of career paths aimed at reducing AI risk, such as machine learning engineering, cybersecurity, and China’s attitude towards AI.

• Withers was previously a policy advisor for the New Zealand government and had recently completed a Master's in Security Studies concentrating in Technology and Security at Georgetown University.

Outcomes: Withers is now a research assistant at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) where he has worked on two projects on AI safety and stability (catastrophic failures; compute governance), authored AI policy reports and op-eds, and organized a roundtable on frontier AI and national security.