New DC Think Tank Staffed Entirely By Robots (Seriously)

Understanding how to most effectively wield influence in Washington can mean the difference for a foreign government between a coup and a bailout. The high-stakes great game has attracted industries filled with advisers ready to walk you through the process for a healthy retainer. Finding the right firm can be a challenge.

At least one government appears to have tried to solve the problem by conjuring a think tank/lobby shop from their own imagination, or that of Chat GPT. Check out their website before they take it down.

In October, a new foreign policy think tank calling itself the Beltway Grid Policy Centre quietly entered D.C.'s diplomatic fray. While there was no launch party and no K Street office we could find, the think tank nevertheless began producing its intellectual product at a startling pace, issuing reports, press releases, and pitching journalists on news coverage—much of it focused on South Asia, and, in particular, the ongoing political crisis in Pakistan.

At first glance, Beltway Grid—which describes itself as "a forward-thinking research institute that dives deep into the modern dynamics of lobbying" whose mission is "to illuminate the hidden tactics shaping global politics"—might be one of many marginal DC-based think tanks trying to shape elite opinion and press coverage. Yet a closer look (and not even that much closer) suggests something a bit more innovative is at play.

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