Over at Drop Site, Waqas Ahmed, Murtaza Hussain, and Ryan Grim have unearthed a new DC ‘think tank’ called Beltway Grid. What was interesting was that they could not find any background to any of the people listed in its ‘About Us’ page. It seems to be populated entirely by non-persons.

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.

Beltway Grid’s lack of a physical footprint in Washington – or anywhere else on the earthly plane of existence – stems from more than just a generous work-from-home policy. The organization does not appear to require its employees to exist at all.

That celestial quality begins at the top at Beltway Grid, which does not list an executive director, president, CEO, or any other leader, but does include 12 staff on its “about us” page. None of those employees have any trace of experience – not just professional, but of even living in the world – before arriving at Beltway Grid. Some appear to be plucked from 19th century Elizabethan novels, including Jimmy Prescott, given the rather unique title of “Research Consultant, Lobbying Techniques & Ethics.” Then there’s Hugh Bradford-Smythe, listed as “Lead Analyst, Political Trends & Impactlicy.”

Efforts to reach Bradford-Smythe to get a deeper understanding of his role analyzing “impactlicy” were unsuccessful. Dr. Eleanor Pemberton, the “Director of Policy Research and Impact,” was also unavailable for comment and Drop Site could not find any trace of her doctorate or indeed her attendance at any university. (A web search did find an Eleanor Pemberton who was born in 1808 but tragically died that same year.) Similarly unfindable were Ben Templeton, “Senior Fellow, Lobbying and Regulatory Affairs,” and his colleague Sebastian Fairchild, serving as “Public Policy and Engagement Coordinator.”
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The unusual nature of Beltway Grid’s staffing leaves open several possibilities. The organization may be so hard at work defending the policies of the Pakistan military and criticizing former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the team simply hasn’t had time to lead previous lives or respond to requests for comment. They may be early alien settlers, dropped off by drones on the coast of New Jersey, who are fans of Jane Austen and have come to study “the modern dynamics of lobbying.” Or, more likely, somebody with a small budget asked ChatGPT to set up a fake think tank. Using AI to make a think tank adds a deeper layer of irony, since AI proponents regularly admonish the public not to conflate the operations of an AI program with “thinking.”

The page did have a photo of people in its ‘Our Principles’ page, consisting of a diverse, serious-looking, well-dressed group of people,

Alas, Drop Site says that this is a stock photo image and it has since disappeared from the website.

In some sense, it is not surprising that so-called ‘think tank personnel’ were ‘replaced’ here by AI. Many ‘think tanks’ are merely propaganda outfits, giving their staff academic-sounding job titles who then turn out ‘research papers’ that consist largely of cherry-picking from reputable sources to arrive at pre-ordained conclusions. These ‘papers’, accompanied by breathless press-releases touting the conclusions, are then released directly to the media, bypassing any peer-review process.

AI systems are perfect for doing this since you can give them prompts such as “Write a paper as to why tax cuts for the wealthy greatly stimulate the economy” or “Why social safety nets stifle economic growth”, and then tweak the output to suit your needs, saving yourself all the expense of renting office space and paying real people to achieve the same result.