Report to Congress on Emerging Technologies

The following is the Jan. 6, 2025, Congressional Research Service in focus report, Defense Primer: Emerging Technologies. From the Report Senior U.S. defense and intelligence officials have identified a number of emerging technologies that could have a disruptive impact on U.S. national security in the years to come. These technologies include: • artificial intelligence, • lethal autonomous weapon systems, • hypersonic weapons, • directed energy weapons, • biotechnology and • quantum technology. As these technologies continue to mature, they could hold significant implications for congressional oversight, U.S. defense authorizations and appropriations, military concepts of operations, and the future of war.