Leading Technology Policy Expert Named Senior Fellow at Paul Tsai China Center

Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center is pleased to announce that Samm Sacks, a leading expert on technology policy and U.S.-China relations, is joining the Center as a Senior Fellow. Sacks has most recently been a Cybersecurity Policy and China Digital Economy Fellow at New America, where she will retain a concurrent affiliation. Her research focuses on emerging information and communication technology policies globally, particularly in China. She has worked on Chinese technology policy issues for over a decade, both with the U.S. government and in the private sector.  

“Samm Sacks has rapidly become one of our country’s most significant thought leaders in the field of new technologies, including their geopolitical implications for the United States and China,” said Paul Gewirtz, Potter Stewart Professor of Constitutional Law and Director of the Paul Tsai China Center. “We are delighted that she will be joining Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, where her increasingly important work will make a major contribution to the activities of our Center and the policy fields in which we work.”         

Samm Sacks’ work covers issues ranging from the U.S.-China technology relationship, the Chinese government’s technology ambitions, China’s cybersecurity regulatory environment (particularly data issues), and the global expansion of Chinese tech companies. She has published widely on these issues. Her recent work has focused especially on emerging national and global rules for regulating the use of data, about which she is currently writing a book. Previously, Sacks launched the industrial cyber business for Siemens in Asia, focusing on energy sector cybersecurity markets in Japan, South Korea, and China. Prior to this, she led China technology sector analysis at the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. 

Sacks’ frequent publications include recent articles in the Atlantic and Foreign Affairs. She has also been a regular contributor to print, TV, and radio media, including Bloomberg, the Financial Times, National Public Radio, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. She has testified before Congress and speaks regularly before academic, policy, and private sector audiences.    

A former Fulbright scholar in Beijing who is professionally fluent in Mandarin, Sacks holds an M.A. from Yale University in international relations and a B.A. from Brown University in Chinese literature.