Scott Nolan Smith

U.S. is in the dark on Mojtaba Khamenei's views on the bomb Khamenei's deep alliance with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has raised concern that Iran's new leader will depart from his father's long-standing position against building a bomb.

“Even if President Trump declares victory tomorrow, and points to the damage done to Iran’s conventional military, the fact of the matter is you have a more hardline regime in place with the key ingredients for a nuclear weapon,” said NTI's Eric Brewer to the LA Times.

Read more. ⤵️

How Public Health Lost The Narrative – And How It Can Win It Back - Health Policy Watch Even as storied public health entities are being dismantled, the tobacco industry – still responsible for eight million deaths each year – faces little

"Public health must reclaim its identity not just as a scientific enterprise, but as a mobilizing one. It must participate in shaping culture and policy – not as a byproduct of producing evidence, but as a deliberate act." healthpolicy-watch.news/how-public-h...

How South by Southwest became Austin’s soft-power showpiece  - Monocle Austin is now globally renowned but it wasn’t always that way. Here’s how the city’s famous South by Southwest festival...

As cities compete for investment and influence, the question isn’t how to host their own SXSW style festival, but whether they are willing to commit the decades it takes to realize a city rebrand. #SoftPower monocle.com/affairs/how-...

How Congress can restore the independence of US science Members must go beyond reinstating US government research spending and re-establish decentralized governance at the National Institutes of Health and other agencies.

Congress must go beyond reinstating US government research spending and re-establish decentralized governance at the NIH and other agencies, says sociologist Natalie B. Aviles.

go.nature.com/4bCwTNh

America’s vaccine skepticism is starting to show up in health data RKF Jr. wanted parents to question the science. A study of 12 million newborns shows they listened.

Without a uniform federal standard, which vaccines a child receives will be shaped less by scientific consensus than by the politics of the state they’re born in. www.vox.com/health/48175...

Opinion | Why it matters that the government is messing with health databases There is no replacement for reliable data from federal government databases.

“I think that we underestimate the extent to which federal government data run our lives. If the data environment changes, which it has been, it has the potential to cause a lot of chaos and a lot of disruption.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

How Stand Up For Science is trying to 'pull every lever' to win over the public Stand Up For Science has become a formal organization and adopted a new strategy that's more confrontational with grassroots tactics

“[The scientific ecosystem is] absolutely lacking on anything direct action, or anything with strategic communications, or any outward-facing public engaging.” www.statnews.com/2026/03/06/s...

The future of nuclear energy depends on getting today’s technology choices right.

Today, the Nuclear Scaling Initiative published the Reactor Selection Tool—a platform designed to guide reactor selection based on 8 key criteria, including safety, security, cost, supply chain & deployment timeline.

NTI and SIIS Advance Dialogue on U.S.-China Strategic Stability and Nuclear Risks The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) launched a new initiative to develop recommendations and proposals for reducing the risk of unnecessary...

“At a moment of heightened geopolitical tension, sustained dialogue between U.S. and Chinese experts is essential to prevent miscalculation and reduce nuclear risks.” www.nti.org/news/nti-and...

New START Has Expired. Congress’s Oversight Tools Shouldn’t. Congress’s oversight of U.S. nuclear policy is at a critical juncture. When the U.S. Senate approved New START in 2010, it mandated several annual reports and certifications to ensure strong congressi...

With New START expired, key congressional oversight requirements have lapsed—leaving gaps just as strategic competition heats up. Congress can close these gaps and strengthen its role in U.S. nuclear policy through this year’s NDAA or appropriations process. www.nti.org/risky-busine...

A Critical Moment for AIxBio Safety and Security The convergence of artificial intelligence and the life sciences is reshaping what’s possible in biology, delivering major advances–ranging from accelerating vaccine discovery to advancing new tools f...

AIxBio capabilities are advancing faster than many experts expected. @nti.org's AIxBio Horizon Scan looks a what we're seeing—and why it matters—highlighting four key trends in AIxBio development. www.nti.org/risky-busine...

Statement by NTI on the U.S.-Israel Strikes on Iran The ongoing major combat operations introduce serious nuclear security and proliferation risks.

Today, the US began a military campaign targeting Iran’s political leadership, nuclear program, and conventional military forces, with the goal of collapsing its government.

The combat operations introduce serious nuclear security and proliferation risks. Our statement: www.nti.org/news/stateme...

The hypothetical nuclear attack that escalated the Pentagon’s showdown with Anthropic Start-up Anthropic and the U.S. military are careening toward a clash over government use of artificial intelligence — and whether it should be allowed to kill.

“It’s not simply ensuring that there’s a human being in the decision-making loop. The question is, to what extent will AI impact that human decision-making?”

DC has 24-hour bus service. How can Montgomery County do the same? View this post on ggwash.org

The need for public transit doesn’t stop when the sun goes down, or even after the clock strikes midnight.

❝Slow progress beats no progress in reversing bioweapons convention atrophy - Geneva Solutions As global norms to prevent biowarfare show signs of erosion, states should back Trump’s rare push to enforce the Biological Weapons Convention, writes David Stiefel, from the US security think tank, t...

Slow progress > no progress when it comes to strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention. The BWC must be strengthened while the global norm against biological weapons still exists. genevasolutions.news/peace-humani...

Managed Access: Preventing AI from Designing Deadly Pathogens A growing number of the world’s leading experts in health security and the life sciences are warning that unfettered open access to biological data could help AI design dangerous pathogens and are cal...

Top experts warn that unrestricted access to biological data could enable AI to design dangerous pathogens. As AIxbio accelerates, @nti.org has championed using managed access to strengthen biosecurity & safeguard rapidly advancing capabilities. www.nti.org/risky-busine...

After leaving WHO, Trump officials propose more expensive replacement to duplicate it HHS proposes spending $2 billion a year to re-create systems the U.S. accessed through the WHO at a fraction of the cost, according to officials briefed on the matter.

After leaving the WHO, the U.S. administration is now proposing to spend $2 billion a year to duplicate services it once received from the WHO for much less. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

Why Responsible AIxBio Innovation Must Be on New Delhi’s Agenda Some of the world’s largest AI companies—Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Anthropic—have warned that their models could be misused to cause harm with biology. The India AI Impact Summit is a critical mome...

@nti.org's Greg Butchello and Aparupa Sengupta, PhD outline two clear priorities that should be on the India AI Impact Summit agenda, in New Delhi and beyond. www.nti.org/risky-busine...

NTI and CACDA Issue Joint Statement Calling for Stronger Biosecurity and Responsible AI-Biotechnology Innovation Amid rapid advances in bioscience and as artificial intelligence reshapes global technological capabilities, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association ...

The joint statement reflects a shared commitment to responsible bioscience and biotechnology research and development. www.nti.org/news/nti-and...

Support for Preventing the Accidental, Mistaken, or Unauthorized Use of a Nuclear Weapon: Nuclear "Fail-Safe" Statement by the Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network, European Leadership Network, Grandview Institution, and Nuclear Threat Initiative

Every nation with nuclear arms bears responsibility for reducing the risk of unintended, mistaken, or unauthorized nuclear use. They should take immediate action to prevent a possible catastrophe.

The world cannot afford to wait for more peaceful times to reduce the risks of nuclear use.

How Funders Can Make Life Science Research Safer and Faster Life science research moves quickly. But not all research carries the same level or type of risk. For funders, the challenge is to identify risks early—without slowing critical research. And now there...

Practical steps funders can take to strengthen biosafety and biosecurity while boosting innovation. www.nti.org/risky-busine...

The Weapons of Mass Destruction AI Security Gap The AI security ecosystem is overly focused on preventing pandemic-level attacks, creating a dangerous blind spot.

"If our safety systems are designed to only flash red for the apocalypse, we will miss the warning signals leading up to it." time.com/7373405/weap...

Biodefense Blind Spot: Why Washington Confuses Pandemics with Bioweapons The next great biological threat may not begin in a wet market, a jungle, or a laboratory accident. It may begin on a laptop with a commercially available

The current U.S. biodefense model assumes threats shaped by biology’s constraints. AI-driven tools allow those constraints to be engineered away.

Newly Unbound, Trump Weighs More Nuclear Arms and Underground Tests It remains to be seen whether the three big nuclear powers are headed into a new arms race, or whether President Trump is trying to spur negotiations on a new accord now that a last Cold War treaty…

Testing nuclear weapons is

🚫Unnecessary for U.S. national security
🚫Unwise because it will invite our adversaries to do the same
🚫Unwelcome in communities close to the test site www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...

What Do Americans Love More than Apple Pie? Arms Control. In a political climate that feels more divided than ever, it seems nearly impossible to agree on anything—except, as it turns out, arms control. A YouGov poll commissioned by NTI and ReThink Media fou...

What do Americans love more than apple pie? Arms control.

91% support capping U.S. & Russian nukes—only 79% like apple pie.

@nti.org's “Keep a Cap on Nukes” campaign took over DC to highlight Trump's long-held view that nuclear weapons must be reined in.

www.nti.org/risky-busine...

The last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia, New START, just expired.

For the first time in  several decades, there will be no limits on nuclear weapons and fewer tools to manage a crisis between the world’s largest nuclear powers.

This legislation will enable responsible scientific progress, reinforce U.S. biotechnology leadership, and strengthen national and global security. www.nti.org/news/nti-end...

NTI President and CEO Christine Wormuth on  the Expiration of the New START Treaty New START, the last remaining arms control treaty capping U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, expires on February 5. This marks the beginning of a dangerous new era. For the first time in several decad...

The expiration of New START marks the beginning of a dangerous new era.

www.nti.org/news/nti-pre...

Opinion | Let the Arms Race Begin

If Congress doesn’t act, the last nuclear arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia will expire. It would pointlessly wipe out decades of diplomacy, and could spark another arms race that makes the world less safe. This piece is worth the read.

The Next Crisis Won’t Wait: Why Pandemic Preparedness Is a Business Imperative Global health security —the ability to protect against the negative impacts of disease outbreaks — is too important to be left solely to the public sector. Industry has a vital interest in helping cou...

Pandemic risk extends beyond public health. Industry plays a vital role in preparing for future epidemics and pandemics and global health security data can help business leaders make key decisions. www.nti.org/risky-busine...