Artificiële Intelligentie & Recht
Innovation, Quantum-AI Technology & Law
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Blog over Kunstmatige Intelligentie, Quantum, Deep Learning, Blockchain en Big Data Law

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Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences: BioLawLaPaLooZa 2023-2024
Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences: BioLawLaPaLooZa 2023-2024

For those deeply engaged in the intricate intersections of law, life sciences, and ethics, Professor Hank Greely’s annual BioLawLaPaLooza at Stanford Law School stands as an intellectual cornerstone. It is a vibrant, informal, yet deeply substantive gathering that brings together leading scholars to test new ideas, debate emerging challenges, and build the collaborative bridges essential for navigating our complex technological future. As a speaker and the photographer for the 2023 and 2024 editions, Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technologie Founder Mauritz Kop had the distinct pleasure of documenting and participating in these vital conversations. This post offers a reflection on and tribute to these remarkable events, which serve as a testament to the foresight and community-building spirit of Stanford’s Center for Law and the Biosciences.

The Center for Law and the Biosciences (CLB): A Foundation for Interdisciplinary Dialogue

Before delving into the events themselves, it is essential to understand the institution that makes them possible. The Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences (CLB), under the direction of Hank Greely, has long been a preeminent academic hub for exploring the legal and ethical quandaries posed by advances in the life sciences. Alongside the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard University, directed by Professor I. Glenn Cohen, the CLB stands as one of the world's leading institutions in this domain. The Center's mission is to foster interdisciplinary research, educate the next generation of leaders in law and science, and inform public policy on topics ranging from genetics and neuroscience to reproductive technologies and AI in healthcare.

The CLB's history is marked by influential scholarship, a distinguished roster of fellows and faculty, and a commitment to public engagement. Its fellowship program has proven to be a successful launchpad, with former fellows frequently securing positions as professors and becoming influential scholars in their own right. Its publications consistently shape academic discourse and provide critical guidance to policymakers. BioLawLaPaLooza is the embodiment of the Center’s mission, creating an environment where complex ideas can be presented and scrutinized in a collegial, fast-paced format. The event’s structure—short, sharp presentations followed by engaged discussion—ensures a breadth and depth of intellectual exchange that is both rare and invaluable.

The Journal of Law and the Biosciences: A Premier Scholarly Venue

Further extending the intellectual ecosystem of which the CLB is a part is the Journal of Law and the Biosciences (JLB). As the first peer-reviewed academic journal focused on the intersection of law and the life sciences, JLB serves as the premier venue for scholarship in this field. It is a co-publication of Duke University, Harvard University Law School, and Stanford University, published by Oxford University Press. The journal's leadership reflects the collaborative and interdisciplinary spirit of the field, with Editors-in-Chief Professor Nita Farahany (Duke), Professor I. Glenn Cohen (Harvard), and Professor Hank Greely (Stanford). Many of the scholars who present their nascent ideas at BioLawLaPaLooza are also contributors to and readers of the journal, highlighting the symbiotic relationship between the conference and the formal academic literature. https://academic.oup.com/jlb

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Mauritz Kop Keynote Speaker at Quantum Governance Workshop at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
Mauritz Kop Keynote Speaker at Quantum Governance Workshop at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law

Phoenix, Arizona—On May 15, 2024, the Center for Law, Science & Innovation at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law hosted a timely Workshop on Quantum Governance, bringing together a diverse group of experts to chart a course for the responsible development of quantum technologies. Mauritz Kop, Founding Director of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology, delivered the keynote address, setting the tone for a day of critical and forward-looking discussions.

Hosted at ASU's Beus Center for Law and Society in beautiful Phoenix, the workshop provided an ideal academic setting for this crucial conversation. ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law is renowned for its focus on the intersection of law, science, and innovation, making it a natural hub for exploring thecomplex governance challenges presented by quantum's second revolution.

Kop's Keynote: Towards Responsible Quantum Technology Governance

In his keynote address, Mauritz Kop presented a comprehensive vision for establishing robust governance frameworks before quantum technology becomes widely integrated into society. He argued that the world must proactively prevent the missteps seen in the governance of previous transformative technologies like artificial intelligence, genetics, and nuclear power.

Kop's talk, "Towards Responsible Quantum Technology Governance," articulated the profound dual-use nature of the field. He detailed the immense potential benefits, from enhancing medical imaging and accelerating drug discovery to mitigating climate change and improving macroeconomic policy-making. Simultaneously, he outlined the significant risks, including the "Q-Day" threat to global cybersecurity, the potential for a new quantum arms race, and the dangers of misuse by authoritarian regimes for mass surveillance.

Learning from AI, Biosciences, and Nanotech

A core theme of the workshop, championed by host Professor Gary Marchant, was the importance of drawing lessons from the governance of prior technological waves. Professor Marchant, a leading scholar in the governance of emerging technologies, and other speakers presented valuable analyses of the successes and failures in regulating fields like biotechnology, nanotechnology, and AI.

A Synergy of Interdisciplinary Expertise

The workshop's strength lay in its rich diversity of speakers. The agenda featured experts from law, computer science, government, and industry, ensuring a holistic and multifaceted discussion. Presentations from Kaniah Konkoly-Thege of Quantinuum on regulatory developments, Jeffery Atik of Loyola Law School on antitrust implications, Royal "Aubrey" Davis of the United States Air Force Academy on historical approaches to transformative technologies, and Megan Wagner & Sarah Wastek from Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law on Governance Lessons from Nanotechnology, among others, created a vibrant intellectual exchange. This collaborative environment is essential for developing governance solutions that are not only technically sound but also legally robust and ethically grounded.

A Lasting Contribution: The Workshop Paper

A significant outcome of this collaborative event is the group-authored paper, "Learning From Emerging Technology Governance for Guiding Quantum Technology," which is available on SSRN here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4923230. The paper synthesizes the insights and discussions from the workshop, providing a comprehensive roadmap for policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers. It serves as a durable and influential contribution to the global dialogue on quantum governance, outlining actionable strategies for fostering innovation while ensuring safety, equity, and accountability.

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Mauritz Kop and Mark Lemley Host Canadian Quantum Governance Delegation at Stanford RQT to Inform its G7 Presidency
Mauritz Kop and Mark Lemley Host Canadian Quantum Governance Delegation at Stanford RQT to Inform its G7 Presidency

Stanford, CA, May 8, 2024—Today, the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT) had the privilege of hosting a distinguished Canadian delegation for a critical dialogue on the future of quantum governance. The meeting, held at Stanford Law School, was a pivotal moment for shaping the international policy landscape for these transformative technologies. Professor Mark Lemley and Executive Director Mauritz Kop were honored to welcome senior officials from Global Affairs Canada, the nation’s foreign ministry, for a conversation designed to inform Canada’s quantum policy development efforts ahead of its G7 Presidency in 2025.

A Convergence of Expertise in Law, Technology, and Diplomacy

The success of such a dialogue hinges on the diverse expertise of its participants. On behalf of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology, its Founding Director Mauritz Kop was pleased to co-host the session. Professor Kop’s work, which focuses on the ethical, legal, social, and policy implications (ELSPI) of quantum technologies, AI, and cybersecurity, has included serving as a member of the Expert Panel on the Responsible Adoption of Quantum Technologies for the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA). This role provided a direct link to the foundational research shaping Canada's domestic and international quantum strategy.

Kop was joined by his esteemed colleague, Mark Lemley, the William H. Neukom Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and the Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science, and Technology. As one of the world's preeminent scholars in intellectual property and technology law, Professor Lemley’s insights into innovation, competition, and the legal structures that govern emerging technologies were indispensable to our discussions on incubating startups and navigating the complex IP landscape of the quantum sector.

A Foundation in Evidence: The Council of Canadian Academies' Quantum Potential Report

Our discussions at Stanford did not occur in a vacuum. They were built upon a solid foundation of evidence-based analysis, most notably the 2023 Quantum Potential report from the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA). As a member of the expert panel that authored this report, chaired by the esteemed Professor Raymond Laflamme of the University of Waterloo, Professor Kop was able to directly infuse its findings into our dialogue.

The CCA’s Quantum Potential report was commissioned by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) to assess the opportunities and challenges of quantum adoption in Canada. The report provided a clear-eyed assessment, warning that while the potential is transformative, significant scientific and engineering obstacles remain. It highlighted critical national security risks, particularly the potential for a fault-tolerant quantum computer to "undermine the digital infrastructure that underpins key areas of everyday life" and "jeopardize data privacy and security".

Crucially, the report championed a proactive and responsible approach to governance, framed through the lens of "Quantum ELSPI"—the ethical, legal, social, and policy implications of the technology.

The Culmination: The G7 Kananaskis Common Vision on Quantum

The journey from academic analysis and focused diplomatic engagement to international consensus reached its apex on June 17, 2025. Drawing upon the preparatory work from the CCA, the insights from our meeting at Stanford, and extensive multilateral consultations, the Government of Canada, during its G7 Presidency, unveiled the Kananaskis Common Vision for the Future of Quantum Technologies.

This declaration represents a landmark achievement in global technology governance and directly reflects the principles and priorities discussed at our Center. The document acknowledges both the "transformative benefits" of quantum technologies and their "far-reaching implications for national and international security". Echoing the core themes of our dialogue and scholarship, the G7 leaders committed to a set of shared principles that build directly on the work of the RQT community and the CCA report.

G7 Joint Working Group on Quantum Technologies

The meeting with the Canadian delegation at the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology was a profound demonstration of how academia can effectively inform and shape public policy on a global scale. It showcased a direct pathway from flagship scholarship like the “Ten principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation” and foundational reports like the CCA's Quantum Potential, through focused expert dialogues, to the codification of international norms in a G7 leaders' declaration. We are proud to have played a role in this vital process and look forward to continued collaboration with our Canadian partners and the new G7 Joint Working Group on Quantum Technologies to build a future where quantum technology unfolds responsibly, securely, and for the benefit of all humanity.

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Celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla at the British Consulate General Team in San Francisco
Celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla at the British Consulate General Team in San Francisco

Around coronation weekend in May 2023—as King Charles III and Queen Camilla were crowned at Westminster Abbey—the British Consulate General in San Francisco hosted a coronation celebration at Grace Cathedral. The afternoon paired royal pageantry, screened from London, with a performance by the Saint Helena Unified School District choir. It was also, for the diplomats and scientists present, an unstructured space in which the governance of emerging technology could be raised informally—a cultural moment that doubled as quiet science diplomacy.

A celebration that became a conversation

Stanford legal scholar Mauritz Kop, who works on responsible quantum technology and trustworthy artificial intelligence, used the gathering to discuss pathways toward responsible quantum technology (RQT) and trustworthy AI with government representatives from an array of countries. Consular receptions rarely produce communiqués; what they produce is shared vocabulary and durable relationships—the connective tissue on which later cooperation depends. A coronation party is, on its surface, a cultural moment; for the people in the room, it was also a rare unstructured setting in which the substance of technology policy could be raised without the apparatus of a formal summit.

Science diplomacy, defined

Science diplomacy is the deliberate use of scientific cooperation to build relationships and inform policy across borders. The questions raised that afternoon were genuinely interdisciplinary: because an arbitrary unknown quantum state cannot be perfectly copied—the no-cloning theorem—quantum technologies reshape what secure communication and intercept attacks can even mean, with direct consequences for cryptography, security, and the legal frameworks that must keep pace. Raising such questions with diplomats from several governments, in a room built for conversation rather than negotiation, is exactly how interdisciplinary governance work begins.

The hosts and the guests

Among the representatives present were Dutch Innovation Consul Walter de Wit and Consul General Dirk Janssen. The event was organized by the UK Science & Innovation Network; Kop thanked Joe White MBE, then His Majesty's Consul General in San Francisco, and Florence Chaverneff of the Network, for convening it. The lesson is a small one with large implications: a guest list is also an agenda, and cultural occasions are among the better instruments of technology diplomacy.

Why it matters

Responsible quantum technology and trustworthy AI will not be governed by any country acting alone, but by networks of people who trust one another enough to disagree productively. Those networks are sometimes built in conference halls and sometimes in a cathedral, on a celebratory afternoon—between a screening of a coronation and a choir's last song. Read alongside the formal record of conferences and consultations, the afternoon is a reminder that some of the most consequential governance work happens in the margins of cultural events. Related reading: AIRecht's coverage of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology.

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Public Property from the Machine published in Harmonizing Intellectual Property Law for a Trans-Atlantic Knowledge Economy
Public Property from the Machine published in Harmonizing Intellectual Property Law for a Trans-Atlantic Knowledge Economy

Brill | Nijhoff's edited volume Harmonizing Intellectual Property Law for a Trans-Atlantic Knowledge Economy—edited by Péter Mezei, Hannibal Travis, and Anett Pogácsás, with a foreword by Maciej Szpunar—includes a chapter by Mauritz Kop, founder of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology, titled Public Property from the Machine. The chapter confronts the question generative artificial intelligence forces on intellectual property law: who should own what a machine makes when no human authored it.

A new category, not a new right

Kop's answer breaks with the reflex to meet new output with new ownership. He argues that human authorship and inventorship remain the normative basis of copyright and patent law, and that—on the chapter's account—extending those rights to fully AI-generated works would chill innovation, narrow cultural diversity, and crowd the commons. In their place he proposes Res Publicae ex Machina—public property from the machine—a deliberately designed, permission-free public-domain regime for creations and inventions that have crossed the autonomy threshold, the point at which output is produced without meaningful human creative contribution. He frames the move as a Pareto improvement: many gain access, and no legal person loses a right that was ever warranted.

Rooted in the articulated public domain

The proposal develops Kop's earlier AI & Intellectual Property: Towards an Articulated Public Domain, published in the Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal in 2020, which argued for designing the public domain deliberately rather than treating it as the leftover of whatever rights fail to attach. The 2024 chapter applies that foundation to machine-generated subject matter under a named regime—so the two are best read as a sequence: the foundational article first, the autonomous-output application second. The same design-first instinct that animates Kop's responsible-innovation work, including the Ten Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation, runs through the chapter: shape the rules before the defaults harden.

Why it matters for trans-Atlantic IP

Placing the argument inside a volume on trans-Atlantic harmonization is deliberate. The familiar questions—can an AI be an author, can an AI be an inventor—assume ownership is the only available category. Public Property from the Machine insists that public property is a category too—one the chapter argues is more defensible for output no human authored. For the United States and Europe, the practical question becomes not how to extend private rights to machines but what to agree to leave free. The fuller portrait of the scholar behind the proposal is set out in the Mauritz Kop profile. The chapter is a scholarly proposal rather than a statement of existing law—but it reframes a debate that has too often had only one answer on offer.

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Mauritz Kop Guest Professor at US Air Force Academy
Mauritz Kop Guest Professor at US Air Force Academy

Colorado Springs, April 25, 2024. We are pleased to highlight Professor Mauritz Kop's recent engagement as a guest professor at the prestigious United States Air Force Academy on April 25, 2024. Professor Kop, Founding Director of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT), addressed talented cadets on "Models for Responsible Regulation of Quantum Information Sciences." The class was an integral part of the Law and Emerging Tech program, led by Professor Aubrey Davis.

Professor Kop's lecture provided a comprehensive overview of the rapidly evolving landscape of quantum technologies and the critical need for proactive, responsible governance, particularly in the context of global geopolitical dynamics.

The Quantum Frontier: Opportunities and Geostrategic Challenges

The session commenced by acknowledging the significant global interest and investment in quantum technologies, noting China's relentless advances in AI and quantum, particularly in quantum networking, which has spurred anxieties about America’s technological supremacy. This technological race brings forth a deeper, existential concern: the potential effects of authoritarian regimes exporting their values into democratic societies through their technology.

Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT) and Its Operationalization

The discussion delved into the critical concept of Quantum-ELSPI (Ethical, Legal, Socio-economic, and Policy Implications), which must be proactively considered for any emerging technology. Quantum-ELSPI, he argued, should inspire the practice of Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT). The Stanford-led RQT framework integrates ELSPI perspectives into quantum R&D, deployment, and adoption, responding to the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) dimensions of anticipation, inclusion, reflection, and responsiveness (AIRR).

To make RQT actionable, Professor Kop introduced the 10 Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation, developed by his multidisciplinary research group. These principles are organized under the SEA framework (Safeguarding, Engaging, and Advancing Quantum Technology) and aim to guide regulatory interventions and cultivate responsible practices across precautionary and permissionless innovation systems. Operationalizing these principles requires continuous multi-stakeholder collaboration throughout the lifecycle of quantum systems, involving standard-setting bodies like ISO, NIST, and IEEE, and potentially new oversight mechanisms like an "Atomic Agency for Quantum-AI".

The Role of Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Education

Highlighting the importance of diverse perspectives, Professor Kop, who integrates his background in law, music, and art into his quantum work, emphasized the need to go beyond siloed approaches to solve the hypercomplex matters arising from quantum technology. He referenced the Stanford Center for RQT's work, its multidisciplinary approach to tackling ELSPI, and its mission to foster competitive, values-based, equitable quantum ecosystems. Initiatives like the annual Stanford RQT Conference and the newly launched Stanford Quantum Incubator aim to bring the quantum community together, bridge gaps between academia, government, investors, and industry, and promote quantum literacy.

Professor Kop concluded by underscoring the urgent need for developing robust models for the responsible regulation of quantum information sciences to ensure that these powerful new capabilities benefit humanity and uphold democratic values.

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Hoover Institution Invites Mauritz Kop to Speak on Quantum, Democracy and Authoriarianism
Hoover Institution Invites Mauritz Kop to Speak on Quantum, Democracy and Authoriarianism

Professor Mauritz Kop Addresses Quantum Technology's Role in the Era of Digital Repression at Hoover Institution Workshop

Palo Alto, CA – April 22, 2024 – Professor Mauritz Kop, Founding Director of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT), delivered insightful opening remarks at a breakout session on Quantum Technology as part of the two-day closed door workshop, "Getting Ahead of Digital Repression: Authoritarian Innovation and Democratic Response." The workshop, held on April 22-23, 2024, at Hoover Institution, Stanford University, was a collaborative effort by the National Endowment for Democracy’s International Forum for Democratic Studies, Stanford University’s Global Digital Policy Incubator, and the Hoover Institution’s China’s Global Sharp Power Project.

The event convened leading researchers and advocates to map how digital authoritarians are innovating globally and to identify new strategies for ongoing knowledge-sharing and cooperation to confront this deepening challenge. The agenda focused on understanding how autocrats leverage emerging technologies—from AI and digital currencies to quantum technology—for social control, censorship, and to export their governance models.

Guardrails Against Digital Authoritarianism

Professor Kop's address served as a crucial discussion starter for the breakout session, which aimed to brainstorm how advances in quantum technology might alter the dynamics of the struggle against digital authoritarianism and to explore potential guardrails. His remarks underscored the profound societal impact of quantum technologies and the imperative for proactive, principles-based governance to ensure they are developed and deployed responsibly, safeguarding human rights and democratic values on a global scale.

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IOP Quantum Science and Technology publishes Ten Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation
IOP Quantum Science and Technology publishes Ten Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation

Stanford, April 22, 2024—The leading peer-reviewed journal Quantum Science and Technology has published the open-access article, "Ten Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation," a significant paper that offers actionable guidance for the ethical development of quantum technologies. The publication is the result of a two-year, deeply interdisciplinary study by a transatlantic group of leading scholars and represents a major step forward in operationalizing a framework for responsible quantum innovation.

This work builds upon the foundational research of the group, including the "Towards Responsible Quantum Technology" paper published by the Harvard Berkman Klein Center, and will be central to the mission of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology.

A Global, Interdisciplinary Collaboration

The paper is a testament to the power of global, interdisciplinary collaboration. Authored by a spectacular team of leading lights in law, philosophy & ethics, socioeconomics, data science, quantum physics, materials science & engineering, and innovation policy, the study brings together a wealth of expertise from the world's most prestigious academic institutions.

The author group, led by Mauritz Kop of Stanford University, includes Mateo Aboy (University of Cambridge), Eline De Jong (University of Amsterdam), Urs Gasser (Technical University of Munich), Timo Minssen (University of Copenhagen), I. Glenn Cohen (Harvard University), Mark Brongersma (Stanford University), Teresa Quintel (Maastricht University), Luciano Floridi (University of Oxford and Yale University), and Raymond Laflamme (University of Waterloo). This formidable team provides a holistic and robust foundation for the quantum governance principles outlined in the paper.

A Framework for Responsible Quantum Innovation

The paper's central contribution is a set of ten guiding principles designed to operationalize a framework for Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT). This framework seeks to integrate considerations of the Ethical, Legal, Social, and Policy Implications (ELSPI) of quantum technologies directly into the research and development lifecycle, while also responding to the core dimensions of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): anticipation, inclusion, reflection, and responsiveness.

The principles are organized into three functional categories, termed the SEA framework, which provides a methodological guide for the quantum community:

  • Safeguarding: This pillar focuses on the proactive identification and mitigation of risks associated with quantum technologies.

  • Engaging: This principle emphasizes the critical need for inclusive and continuous dialogue among all stakeholders, from researchers and industry to policymakers and the public.

  • Advancing: This pillar is dedicated to ensuring that quantum technology is actively steered towards desirable societal outcomes and contributes to addressing the world's most pressing challenges.

The Ten Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation

The Ten Principles paper proposes the following ten actionable principles to help address the risks, challenges, and opportunities associated with the entire suite of second-generation quantum technologies:

  1. Information Security: Make information security an integral part of QT, proactively addressing security threats, including the risk quantum computers pose to current encryption standards.

  2. Dual Use: Proactively anticipate the malicious use of quantum applications by addressing the risks of dual-use technologies that can be employed for both beneficial and harmful purposes.

  3. Quantum Race: Seek international collaboration based on shared values to address the winner-takes-all dynamics of a potential quantum arms race.

  4. Quantum Gap: Consider our planet as the sociotechnical environment in which QT should function, engaging states to ensure equitable access and prevent a "quantum divide."

  5. Intellectual Property: Incentivize innovation while being as open as possible and as closed as necessary, engaging institutions to find the right balance between protecting intellectual property and fostering an open research environment.

  6. Inclusion: Pursue diverse R&D communities in terms of disciplines and people, engaging a wide range of voices to ensure a holistic approach to innovation.

  7. Societal Relevance: Link quantum R&D explicitly to desirable societal goals, advancing society by focusing on applications that address pressing needs.

  8. Complementary Innovation: Actively stimulate sustainable, cross-disciplinary innovation, advancing technology by exploring synergies with other fields like AI and biotechnology.

  9. Responsibility: Create an ecosystem to learn about the possible uses and consequences of QT applications, advancing our understanding of Responsible QT through continuous feedback and assessment.

  10. Education and Dialogue: Facilitate dialogues with stakeholders to better envision possible quantum futures, advancing our collective thinking and education about QT and its impact.

A Catalyst for a Values-Based Quantum Future

The overarching objective of this interdisciplinary effort is to steer the development and use of quantum technology in a direction that is not only consistent with a values-based society but also actively contributes to solving its most significant challenges. The "Ten Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation" provides a crucial foundation for this work.

The paper is a call to action for the entire quantum community—researchers, industry leaders, policymakers, and the public—to engage in the vital work of building a responsible quantum ecosystem. As the authors conclude, the goal is to develop and operationalize these guiding principles into the best practices and real-world applications that will define the quantum future. The annual Stanford RQT Conference, among other initiatives, will continue to provide a forum for these critical, interdisciplinary discussions.

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Mauritz Kop Teaches Stanford Quantum Computing Association Students at Stanford Electrical Engineering
Mauritz Kop Teaches Stanford Quantum Computing Association Students at Stanford Electrical Engineering

STANFORD, CA, April 16, 2024 – Today, Mauritz Kop, Founding Director of the newly established Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT), delivered a lecture to the Stanford Quantum Computing Association (SQCA) at Stanford Electrical Engineering, titled "A Call for Responsible Quantum Technology." The interdisciplinary lecture was a featured event in the SQCA's distinguished "Industry Nights" speaker series and concluded with an engaging question-and-answer session with Stanford's outstanding physics, computer science, and electrical engineering students.

The Stanford Quantum Computing Association (SQCA)

The Stanford Quantum Computing Association (SQCA) serves as a vital hub for the university's burgeoning quantum community, connecting students across disciplines with the forefront of quantum innovation. SQCA’s mission is to establish and support a quantum computing community at Stanford by building bridges between students, researchers, and faculty from various departments interested in the field. Its "Industry Nights" series consistently hosts influential voices from leading companies and research institutions such as Google Quantum AI, D-Wave Quantum, and Quantinuum, providing quantum computing students with direct access to the field's pioneers. The SQCA also acts as a liaison between the Stanford quantum community and academic and industry groups outside the university. Its activities include hosting talks, holding workshops, and organizing projects.

Ethics, Law, Societal Impact, Economics, and Policy

During his talk, Professor Kop outlined a comprehensive vision for navigating the dawn of the quantum age. He introduced the concepts of the Quantum-ELSPI metaparadigm—which addresses the ethical, legal, socio-economic, and policy implications of the technology—and the Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT) framework developed by a transatlantic team of interdisciplinary scholars. The RQT framework, Kop explained, integrates these ELSPI perspectives into the entire lifecycle of quantum research and development, from the lab to the market.

To make this framework actionable, Kop presented the "10 Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation," a guide designed to operationalize RQT. These principles are organized into three functional categories: Safeguarding, Engaging, and Advancing (SEA). A crucial insight shared was that safeguarding society and humanity can often be best achieved by responsibly advancing quantum technology. This vision was recently detailed in a paper co-authored by Kop and his team, "A Call for Responsible Quantum Technology," which was notably published in the prestigious journal Nature Physics on April 9, 2024, lending significant credibility to the mission of embedding responsible governance within the scientific community.

Stanford Center for RQT and Stanford Quantum Incubator (SQI) Launch

The lecture was also marked by two significant announcements for the Stanford quantum community. Kop officially introduced the Stanford Center for RQT, a new multidisciplinary center under his leadership that aims to influence the emerging quantum technology governance cycle and foster a competitive, values-based quantum ecosystem. He also unveiled the recent launch of the Stanford Quantum Incubator (SQI), a Silicon Valley business catalyst designed to bridge the gap between academia, government, investors, and industry to accelerate quantum development and adoption.

The presentation underscored the massive global implications of quantum technology, which is poised to transform everything from healthcare and energy to defense and materials science. By engaging directly with the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers at the SQCA, Kop emphasized the shared responsibility of the entire community to steer these powerful technologies toward beneficial societal and planetary outcomes while the field is still malleable.

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Stanford Law School Legal Aggregate Q&A with SLS's Mauritz Kop on Quantum Technologies
Stanford Law School Legal Aggregate Q&A with SLS's Mauritz Kop on Quantum Technologies

Stanford Law School's Legal Aggregate blog has run a Q&A with Mauritz Kop—SLS's Mauritz Kop Discusses Quantum Technology and the Need for Legal and Policy Guardrails—published a day after his Nature Physics comment A Call for Responsible Quantum Technology, co-authored with Urs Gasser and Eline De Jong. The conversation translates a scholarly argument for responsible quantum technology into terms a general readership can act on.

Guardrails as a design choice

The interview's frame is constructive rather than alarmist: the case for legal and policy guardrails is the case for capturing quantum technology's benefits responsibly, while the field's commercial and strategic shape is still being set. Because qubits can hold superpositions of states and become entangled, quantum systems unsettle long-standing assumptions—about what can be measured, copied, or kept secret—that current law and infrastructure quietly rely on. Addressing that upstream, the argument runs, is cheaper and more credible than reacting to harms after deployment. The piece is equally careful about timing: much of the field's most consequential promise depends on advances in error correction and the management of decoherence, and it is exactly that gap between current machines and eventual capability that makes early, revisable governance the prudent course.

Scholarship built to be cited

A distinctive thread is Kop's publication strategy: placing work in both scientific and legal journals so that policymakers can cite it and build durable policy on top of it—across national security, export controls, supply chains, intellectual property, and standardization. The Nature Physics comment makes the foundational move, calling on the research community to take shared responsibility for defining the principles and practices of responsible quantum technology rather than leaving that to after-the-fact regulation.

Institution-building at Stanford

The Q&A situates the argument inside the work then underway at Stanford Law School—a newly launched center for responsible quantum technology, a quantum incubator, and an annual conference, the second edition of which was covered in the 2nd Annual Stanford Responsible Quantum Technology Conference summary. The fuller portrait of the scholar behind the program is set out in the Mauritz Kop profile. The result is a single message in two registers: responsible governance of quantum technology is an upstream design choice, best made while the technology, the market, and the law are all still forming. It is a message that echoes a recurring theme in the parallel governance of artificial intelligence: that durable rules tend to rest on a credible evidentiary record assembled before the technology matures. The Legal Aggregate Q&A reads, in that light, as an attempt to apply that insight to quantum technology one cycle earlier.

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Quantum Technology, Stanford, PolicyMauritz KopMauritz Kop, Quantum Governance, Policy, Stanford RQT, Quantum Technology, Urs Gasser, Legal Aggregate, Nature Physics, Quantum Guardrails, Eline De Jong
Nature Physics publishes A Call for Responsible Quantum Technology by Urs Gasser, Eline De Jong and Mauritz Kop
Nature Physics publishes A Call for Responsible Quantum Technology by Urs Gasser, Eline De Jong and Mauritz Kop

The leading journal Nature Physics has published "A Call for Responsible Quantum Technology," a significant Comment piece authored by a transatlantic team of scholars: Urs Gasser, Eline De Jong, and Mauritz Kop. Published on April 9, 2024, the article serves as a manifesto of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology (RQT). It presents a compelling argument for proactively establishing ethical and societal guardrails for quantum technology (QT) while the field is still in its formative stages.

Citation: Gasser, U., De Jong, E. & Kop, M. A call for responsible quantum technology. Nat. Phys. 20, 525–527 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02462-8

This foundational work builds upon the Stanford Center for RQT's prior scholarship, including the foundational paper "Towards Responsible Quantum Technology" published at Harvard and the University of California, and the "10 Principles for Responsible Quantum Innovation" published at IOP Science & Technology. All three authors are members of the Stanford RQT Center, which is founded and directed by Kop, who also served as the senior and corresponding author on the Nature publication. The article crystallizes the Center's crucial mission: to guide the development of quantum technologies in a direction that is safe, ethical, and beneficial for humanity and the planet.

Watch Urs Gasser and Eline De Jong present their Nature publication at the Stanford Responsible Quantum Technology Conference here: https://youtu.be/2vA9fID-7SA?si=MV67C9jN34UlsmuW&t=1279

The Core Argument: A Proactive Stance on Quantum Governance

The central thesis of "A Call for Responsible Quantum Technology" is both clear and urgent: the time to consider and implement governance frameworks for QT is now. The authors draw a crucial lesson from the history of other powerful innovations, such as nuclear fission and artificial intelligence (AI), where ethical, legal, and social considerations were often addressed reactively, "once the genie is already out of the bottle." Given the potentially transformative and disruptive power of quantum, the article argues that repeating this mistake is not an option.

A Framework for Responsible Quantum Innovation

To navigate this complex landscape, the authors propose a comprehensive framework for Responsible Quantum Technology. This is not a call for premature, heavy-handed legislation but for a systematic approach to anticipate and manage the ethical, legal, social, and policy implications (ELSPI) throughout the entire QT lifecycle.

The framework is designed to be operationalized through a set of quantum-specific guiding principles, which the authors organize into three functional categories, known as the SEA principles:

  • Safeguarding: Principles focused on mitigating downside risks, requiring that issues like information security and malicious dual-use scenarios are considered from the outset of research and development.

  • Engaging: Principles designed to foster robust interaction between innovators and diverse stakeholders to address complex issues like intellectual property, market competition, and equitable access.

  • Advancing: Principles that prioritize and incentivize the development of QT applications that serve desirable societal goals and the common good.

This layered approach, spanning technical, ethical, and socio-legal considerations, provides a navigational aid for researchers, funders, policymakers, and industry leaders, offering both an "issue spotter" to identify potential challenges and a "compass" to guide the technology's trajectory.

The Authors of the Nature Publication on Responsible Quantum Technology

The Nature article is a product of deep interdisciplinary expertise, authored by three leading figures at the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology:

Urs Gasser is a distinguished Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), where he is Dean of the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology. A Fellow at the Stanford RQT Center, he was previously the Executive Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. His research focuses on the societal and regulatory implications of emerging technologies, bringing a wealth of experience in technology law and policy.

Eline De Jong is a Dutch philosopher and ethicist serving as a Fellow at the Stanford RQT Center. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam, specializing in the philosophy and ethics of quantum technology. Her background includes advising the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy on the societal impact of AI, providing a deep understanding of the co-evolution of technology and society.

Mauritz Kop, the Founding Director of the Stanford RQT Center and the article's senior and corresponding author, is a tech lawyer, policy advisor, and academic whose work focuses on creating sui generis governance frameworks for exponential technologies like AI and quantum. His scholarship, published by leading institutions globally, aims to integrate risk management, regulatory compliance, and safety standards directly into the innovation process.

This collaboration between legal, policy, and ethics scholars underscores the article's central message: ensuring a responsible quantum future requires a concerted, interdisciplinary, and international effort. As the manifesto for the Stanford Center for RQT, Nature’s "A Call for Responsible Quantum Technology" is a foundational text, setting a clear and principled agenda for the global quantum community.

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Academics, Ethics, Governance, Policy, Law, Quantum Technology, Quantum ELSPI, ReguleringMauritz KopNature Physics, Stanford RQT, Harvard, Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology, Urs Gasser, Eline de Jong, Mauritz Kop, Law, Ethics, Policy, Governance, Regulation
Harvard Petrie-Flom publishes EU and US Regulatory Challenges Facing AI Health Care Innovator Firms
Harvard Petrie-Flom publishes EU and US Regulatory Challenges Facing AI Health Care Innovator Firms

Harvard Law School's Petrie-Flom Center has published EU and US Regulatory Challenges Facing AI Health Care Innovator Firms on its Bill of Health blog—an op-ed co-written by lead author Suzan Slijpen, Mauritz Kop (Founder of the Stanford Center for Responsible Quantum Technology), and senior author I. Glenn Cohen, who directs the Center. It examines why firms building artificial intelligence for medicine face such a tangled compliance map, and what a better one might look like.

Two regulatory philosophies, one transatlantic market

The piece sets Europe's cross-sectoral instinct against America's sectoral one. An AI medical product entering the EU must answer to the Medical Device Regulation, the GDPR, and a sweeping digital rulebook that now includes the EU AI Act and the coming European Health Data Space. In the United States, by contrast, coverage is patchy by design: HIPAA reaches only certain entities and data, and the FDA regulates medical AI only where it fits an existing category. Each model has genuine merits and genuine blind spots, and a firm selling on both shores must satisfy both at once.

Where the law strains hardest

The authors are clearest on the cases that resist tidy rules. Adaptive algorithms that keep learning after deployment make it hard to say when a model has changed enough to need fresh review—an area where the FDA's 2023 predetermined-change-control guidance points a constructive way forward. Generative AI overtook the EU AI Act mid-negotiation, unsettling how foundation models are treated under a rulebook drafted before they arrived. And at the material frontier sit quantum- and AI-driven devices, with their export controls, fragile supply chains, dual-use questions, and intellectual-property and security concerns—the bridge from this op-ed to Kop's broader work on the quantum technology governance frontier. The lesson the authors draw is procedural as much as substantive: regulators must understand the tempo of the technology they govern, or risk writing rules that are obsolete before they bind.

Toward a workable middle ground

Rather than crowning a winner, the authors propose a mixed horizontal-vertical approach: keep the precautionary care for patient safety, keep the permissionless capacity to innovate, and tailor the result to the economic realities of health care—from clinical-trial costs to market licenses. Regulation that is sensible, practical, and sector-specific, they argue, serves innovators and patients alike; anything less is rendered ineffective fast. Readers tracking Kop's longer arc on responsible technology can also follow his AIRecht scholar profile, where the through-line from AI in medicine to the law and ethics of the quantum age is laid out across a decade of work.

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Healthcare, Artificial Intelligence, HarvardMauritz KopMauritz Kop, AI, Regulation, Healthcare, Policy, Governance, Petrie-Flom, Bill of Health, I. Glenn Cohen, Suzan Slijpen, EU AI Act, Medical Devices, FDA, HIPAA, GDPR, Quantum Healthcare