At Texas A&M, Moniz Highlights Security Challenges Posed by Cyber and AI

At the first cybersecurity summit held by Texas A&M University’s Global Cyber Research Institute (GCRI), NTI Co-Chair and CEO Ernest J. Moniz told university leaders, industry and cyber experts, and graduate students that the institute serves “a very important need” at a crucial time.

“The intersection of digital, cybersecurity, AI, and other high-clockspeed technologies is changing—and will change—just about everything we do,” Moniz said. “We need greater understanding in the public sector to shape the enterprise, including to reduce risks, beyond the self-policing of the practitioners. That all starts with education and the development of a well-equipped workforce.”

NTI Board member Ray Rothrock, a Texas A&M alumnus who created the institute in 2021 through a gift to the university with a fellow graduate, has deep expertise in cybersecurity and nuclear science and engineering. He said the institute will provide “thought leadership, engagement, education, policy and actionable research on the topic of cybersecurity to enable a safer global society where the rule of law prevails.”

At last month’s summit, Moniz praised the institute for its focus on research, education, and workforce development. He said the “cyber-AI intersection,” with its potential to develop solutions to great problems and to wreak havoc by enabling “whole new classes of bad actors,” presents a “grand challenge” to the institute and its students, particularly when it comes to nuclear security.  He urged a focus on developing AI solutions to the security challenges that AI poses.

“This cyber institute is critical and needs to multiply many times over,” Moniz said.