USA

The United States of America participated in the first United Nations Human Rights Council debate on autonomous weapons systems in May 2013^[1]Stop Killer Robots, Report on outreach on the UN report on ‘lethal autonomous robotics’, July 2013. https://www.stopkillerrobots.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/KRC_ReportHeynsUN_Jul2013.pdf., and has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons meetings on autonomous weapon systems since 2014.

The U.S. does not support the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems. At the second session of the 2021 CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS), the United States said that it believes ‘the existing IHL, and effective measures at the national level to implement IHL, are sufficient to address the challenges posed by LAWS.’ ^[2]Statement by the U.S., CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 27 September 2021, https://media.un.org/en/asset/k13/k13owhtps9; please note that this link leads to the full recording of the … Continue reading

At the same GGE on LAWS session, the U.S. also said that ‘we disagree that new obligations need to be established with respect to the development or use of LAWS… we remain unconvinced that a new legally binding instrument is needed in this space.’^[3]Statement by the U.S., CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 01 October 2021,https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1b/k1bxcti52f; please note that this link leads to the full recording of the relevant … Continue reading

Regarding human control over autonomous weapon systems, the U.S. has stated that it ‘does not agree with elaborating a new standard of sufficient human control’. ^[4]Statement by the U.S., CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 30 September 2021,https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1g/k1gjinrfym; please note that this link leads to the full recording of the … Continue reading At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in October 2022, the U.S. said that ‘We remain of the view that human control is not a legal requirement as such, but rather is one means to help ensure compliance with IHL.'^[5]Statement by the U.S., 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 20 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/20Oct_USA.pdf

U.S. Department of Defense policy does not prohibit the development or employment of autonomous weapons systems.^[6]Congressional Research Service, ‘Defense Primer: U.S. Policy on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, 2021, https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11150. The U.S. is actively involved in the development, testing, and use of weapons systems with autonomous functions.^[7]See, for example, SIPRI, Mapping the development of autonomy in weapon systems, 2017, … Continue reading. U.S. Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 on autonomy in weapons systems, which sets out policy and guidelines on the development and use of autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons systems, was originally published in 2012 and was updated in 2023.