Areas of Expertise

  • Artificial intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Quantum technologies
  • Digital authoritarianism
  • Technological spheres of influence
  • China  

Short Bio

Dr. Valentin Weber is a senior research fellow in DGAP’s Center for Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, and Technology. He currently leads the project China’s AI Exports, which is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. Previously, he led the project Norms in Cyberspace.

Weber is also a China Foresight Associate at LSE IDEAS, the foreign policy think tank of the London School of Economics and Political Science. From January to March 2026, he was a Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Visiting Fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei, where he conducted research on cyber resilience. In summer 2023, he was a visiting researcher at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. In 2019, he conducted research on information controls as an Open Technology Fund Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

Various media outlets have reported on his research, including Deutsche Welle, South China Morning Post, The Globe and Mail, and the Associated Press.

Weber earned his PhD in cybersecurity from the University of Oxford and studied at Sciences Po Paris, the London School of Economics, and Johns Hopkins University. While at Oxford, he was also a research affiliate with the university’s Centre for Technology and Global Affairs.

Languages

German, English

 

[Last updated: April 2026]

 

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Valentin Weber

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Expertise

Publications

DeepSeek Home located in China with a blurred person walking by a sign.

The Geopolitics of AI App Exports

Valentin Weber
Control over AI chatbots means power. This FNF study by DGAP expert Valentin Weber shows that Chinese apps are now widely used around the world. Europe is losing ground.
External Publications
The Taiwanese company CTi Cable, manufacturer of cables and interconnection systems, ceremonially launched its first European production center

National Mesh Network an Option

Valentin Weber
Taiwan relies on subsea cables, satellites and fiber optic cables to remain connected. However, in times of conflict, none of these would be enough to ensure that the government can communicate with its citizens, or that citizens could communicate with each other. A mesh network, on the other hand, ensures sovereignty and autonomy. We therefore propose that the government initiate a discussion about constructing the world’s first national mesh network in Taiwan.
External Publications
Cover_MSC_Memo_Katja_AI

Tech Cooperation and Tech Sovereignty in the New World Order

Katja Muñoz
Valentin Weber
The EU and Germany have built a digital state on infrastructure they don’t control. AI systems are embedded in critical operations ranging from municipal services to the Bundeswehr, while lock-in windows close. Germany has the economic capacity and research capabilities, but political will is lacking.
Memo
AGI

China’s Embodied AI: A Path to AGI

Valentin Weber
China is embracing “embodied AI”—artificial intelligence integrated with physical agents, such as robots and drones—both for commercial reasons and as a path to artificial general intelligence (AGI). The trend reflects China’s signature approach to AI, which recognizes diverse paths to AI dominance vis-à-vis the large models favored in the United States. This report documents PRC support for AI embodiment, describes how it is understood by China’s research community, and maps out the related infrastructure.
External Publications
Visual Report: The Geopolitics of Batteries

The Geopolitics of Batteries

How Europe Can Reclaim Energy Storage Sovereignty Before It’s Too Late
Michael Laha
Valentin Weber
Maria Pericàs Riera
et al.
China recently announced sweeping export controls that cover large parts of the battery value chain. Coming amid a turbulent period for Europe’s battery sector, these measures are the latest in a string of geopolitical shocks that underscore Europe’s fragile energy storage sovereignty. Against this background, this collection of DGAP Memos provides a one-stop shop for the geopolitics of batteries and what Europe can do to reclaim sovereignty in this critical area.
Report

In the media

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