U.S. Killer Robots Program Threatens Reckless, Dangerous Arms Race Says New Report

November 22, 2024

U.S. Killer Robots Program Threatens Reckless, Dangerous Arms Race Says New Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. is at risk of expediting a new global arms race, according to a new Public Citizen report, "Deadly and Imminent: The Pentagon's Mad Dash for Silicon Valley's AI Weapons." The new report zeroes in on the Department of Defense's Replicator program, an initiative to field artificial intelligence-empowered weapons on an expedited timeline. The report highlights and criticizes the DOD's refusal to clarify if the AI weapons it is developing will have the capacity to deploy lethal force autonomously - without a human authorizing the specific use of force in a specific context.

"Empowering autonomous systems to kill human beings is a frightening and all-too-near possibility that the Pentagon must avoid at all costs." said Savannah Wooten, People Over Pentagon Advocate at Public Citizen and author of the report. "The time to make it crystal clear that the Pentagon will not use or further develop killer robots is now. If the U.S. bows to the profit-driven whims of Silicon Valley executives who want to play war, their cowardice will have grave and unforgivable consequences for humanity."

This analysis is timely, as the Replicator program is now more than halfway through its 2-year mandate. Earlier this month, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced an additional tranche of contracts for the initiative, which has a total budget of around $1 billion over its lifespan. The report spotlights corporate profit incentives behind the military-industrial push to fast-track AI technologies and urges Congress and the Pentagon to exercise discernment in adopting a narrative that AI warfare is the inevitable "future of defense."

Congress and the Pentagon must collaborate to codify provisions to reduce civilian harm, mitigate the risk of AI systems malfunctioning or hallucinating, and ensure full, non-negotiable human control over AI weapons at all times.

Key recommendations:

• Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin must clarify that the AI weaponry procured by Replicator will NOT be empowered to autonomously kill on the battlefield.
• Pentagon leadership must establish and articulate the agency's protocols to ensure responsible authority over emerging artificial intelligence in the U.S. military.
• "Investing in AI" cannot be used as a carte blanche to justify ever-increasing Pentagon spending.

The full report is available to read here. To speak with the report's author, contact [email protected].