On Dec. 7, Taft partner Sohan Dasgupta, Ph.D., addressed world leaders gathered at the U.S. Congress. His remarks were entitled “The Promise of the Free World.”  Dasgupta was hosted by several Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senators, and the Parliamentary Intelligence – Security Forum.

Dasgupta discussed sanctions, export controls, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Team Telecom, enforcement actions, investigations, and other actions undertaken by the governments of the U.S. and the West. He traced the business and technological aspects of 5G, artificial intelligence, and machine learning in the coming decades. Dasgupta's participation supported his clients' work in these and related spaces.

Dasgupta's audience included U.S. Senators, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Prime Ministers, Cabinet Members, Ambassadors, Members of the European Parliament, Members of national Parliaments and Congresses, other senior government officials, C-Suite executives, and additional luminaries from all over the globe. 

Dasgupta said, “5G-engendered faster data speeds, increased device density, increased reliability, and ultra-low latency will enable countless industries, such as information technology, manufacturing, health care, and agriculture, to flourish and innovate on an accelerated and hitherto unprecedented rate and scale. And 5G will be forced to engage with equally daunting risks.”

“Economic security is national security. And technological control is economic control, which in turn seriously implicates national security. This endeavor [concerning a thoughtful approach to 5G], actually, is about protecting the very fabric of what sets us free.”

Addressing the global superpowers' race for technological dominance, Dasgupta observed, “[T]he rapid and massive technological changes we presently face—many of them under the aegis of 5G—and the governmental responses to them, implicate the free flow of information. And it is on this new frontier that the future of the Free World will be decided.”

U.S. Senators, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, other senior U.S. government officials, foreign leaders, and illustrious business executives also spoke at this intelligence summit, which was held at the Dirksen Senate Building in Washington, DC.

Dasgupta is a strategic and experienced problem-solver representing clients before the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state appellate and trial courts, government agencies, state legislatures, and Congress. His practice includes trial and appellate litigation, public law, investigations (including congressional, regulatory, and internal), regulatory and compliance matters, and international disputes (including international trade and international arbitration). He previously served as Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Special Counsel of the U.S. Department of Education.

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