Helen Toner

Helen Toner is the interim executive director at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). She previously worked as a senior research analyst at Open Philanthropy, where she advised policymakers and grantmakers on AI policy and strategy. Between working at Open Philanthropy and joining CSET, Toner lived in Beijing, studying the Chinese AI ecosystem as a research affiliate of Oxford University’s Center for the Governance of AI. She has written for Foreign Affairs, The Economist, Time, and other outlets about U.S.-China competition and AI policy, and she has also testified before several congressional committees. Helen holds an M.A. in security studies from Georgetown along with a B.Sc. in chemical engineering and a diploma in languages from the University of Melbourne.