A group of bipartisan lawmakers have introduced legislation that would prevent AI from being used to launch a nuclear weapon.

Announced earlier this week, the Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous AI Act seeks to codify current Pentagon rules for nuclear weapons, which already require human decision-making when it comes to their launch.

Those rules read: “In all cases, the United States will maintain a human ‘in the loop’ for all actions critical to informing and executing decisions by the President to initiate and terminate nuclear weapon employment.”

The bill text says "any decision to launch a nuclear weapon should not be made by artificial intelligence” and that no autonomous system “without meaningful human oversight” should launch a nuclear weapon or “select or engage targets” with the intention of launching one.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Don Beyer (D-VA), and Ken Buck (R-CO). It's co-sponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

"As we live in an increasingly digital age, we need to ensure that humans hold the power alone to command, control, and launch nuclear weapons—not robots," Sen. Markey said. "We need to keep humans in the loop on making life or death decisions to use deadly force, especially for our most dangerous weapons.”

By: DocMemory
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