My inclination is to say that the risks today are such that participation in such programs is not a good thing. I try, sometimes, to equate what security is trying to do with what doctors are trying to do. You have curative medicine and preventative medicine. Curative is when you have a really big problem and you have to go in with a big mallet, but a lot of things are preventative. I think the level of threat that we face today from China and a number of other countries is such that despite the cost to science—and there is a cost—scientists should not be allowed to participate in these talent programs, with or without the permission of their superiors. If relations between us and other countries or adversaries improve, then I think we should relook at the program, but we cannot on the one hand say that China, for example, is a strategic adversary, and on the other hand say to scientists, “Well, as long as you report to your boss that you're talking to them, you can share virtually anything.” The problem is that, in science, you can't partially share—I'm told it doesn't work. I'm not a scientist myself, to be clear.
On May 3rd, 2024. See this statement in context.