Chancellor Daniel Diermeier opened the fourth annual Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats with a call for bold, collaborative leadership to meet the unprecedented challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
“We are living through a moment of extraordinary promise—and extraordinary peril,” Diermeier said. “That is nowhere more true than in the realm of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a defining challenge for American leadership in the 21st century, and we must lead.”
Addressing an audience of international security experts, policymakers, researchers and industry leaders, Diermeier underscored Vanderbilt’s commitment to building bridges across sectors and disciplines to ensure responsible innovation.
“At Vanderbilt, we believe that it is our responsibility to bring together government, academia and industry to understand this moment and to help lead through it,” he said.
Diermeier highlighted the university’s investments in national security research with last year’s launch of the Institute of National Security, led by retired Gen. Paul Nakasone, calling it “a bold step forward in making Vanderbilt a national leader at the intersection of technology and security.”
This year’s summit began with welcome videos from Gov. Bill Lee and Sen. Bill Hagerty, who both emphasized the state’s growing strategic importance in national innovation ecosystems.
“Tennessee remains committed to protecting our state and our nation against emerging threats from cyber conflict to artificial intelligence and beyond,” Lee said. “Tennessee continues to innovate across multiple sectors and various levels of government to strengthen national security.”
Hagerty echoed those sentiments: “Tennessee continues to build a world-class innovation ecosystem, perfectly positioning our state to be a major contributor to U.S. national security in the 21st century…. Protecting our national security will continue to entail remaining at the cutting edge of a combination of technical fields.”
Diermeier closed his remarks with a message of urgency and optimism.
“Let us lead—ethically, responsibly and with courage,” he said. “Because the stakes could not be higher.”