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CSET study of PLA tenders maps China's military AI shopping list

ResearchDefenceCNConfirmed

Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology analysed thousands of open-source People's Liberation Army requests for proposals issued in 2023 and 2024. The PLA is seeking AI decision-support tools at strategic and tactical levels, sensors and AI to detect US naval assets and counter US space systems, and surveillance and deepfake tools for cognitive operations. Most tenders had small budgets and three-to-six-month timelines, pointing to rapid prototyping.

Why it matters

It gives an evidence base, beyond rhetoric, for what China's military is actually buying, which informs US export controls and allied threat assessments.

SourceCSET (Georgetown University) Checked against the primary source. Independently fact-checked on 7 Oct 2026.
Center for Security and Emerging TechnologyPeople's Liberation Army

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