CNAS Press Note: Open Letter on Dangers of Autonomous Weapons

As autonomous technology becomes increasingly capable, more than 100 CEOs have signed an open letter urging the United Nations to ban lethal autonomous weapons. CNAS Senior Fellow Paul Scharre, author of the forthcoming book, Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, has written a new press note discussing the letter. 

The full press note is below:

Over one hundred CEOs from robotics and artificial intelligence companies around the world recently signed an open letter warning of the dangers of autonomous weapons. Unlike most weapons in use today, autonomous weapons could select and attack targets on their own. In their letter, the CEOs implored countries to work together through the United Nations to prevent an arms race in autonomous weapons. For the past several years, nations have met as part of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) to discuss lethal autonomous weapons. Last year, members of the CCW agreed unanimously to form a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE), but this year’s meetings have been delayed. The GGE will meet in November, but international diplomacy is moving slowly, while autonomous technology races ahead.

Scharre is available for interviews. To arrange an interview, please contact JaRel Clay at [email protected] or 202-457-9410.