Anne Neuberger on AI: ‘We have to challenge ourselves to be first’

An interview with former White House cyber official Anne Neuberger at the Munich Security Conference examines how China’s DeepSeek and access to large-scale data shape AI competition, the dual-use of AI for cyber offense and defense, and implications for military operations; drawing lessons from post-Snowden trust erosion, she frames ransomware as financially driven and tied to Russian hybrid activity and highlights a whole-of-nation response—secure-by-design tech, hardening critical sectors (e.g., hospitals), disrupting criminal infrastructure, blockchain analysis and AML for crypto, and international coordination (Counter Ransomware Initiative)—while urging faster, transparent public-private policy experimentation to counter authoritarian and criminal uses of advanced technology.