Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1394 To prohibit the use of Federal funds to launch a nuclear weapon using an autonomous weapons system that is not subject to meaningful human control, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 1, 2023 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To prohibit the use of Federal funds to launch a nuclear weapon using an autonomous weapons system that is not subject to meaningful human control, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Block Nuclear Launch 4 by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1394.IS S1394 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1394 IS (1) Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 1 (relating to Autonomy in Weapons Systems), dated 2 November 21, 2012, defines ‘‘autonomous weapons 3 system’’ as a weapons system that, once activated, 4 can select and engage targets without further inter- 5 vention by an operator. 6 (2) Article 3, clause 8 of the Convention on 7 Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain 8 Conventional Weapons Which may be Deemed to be 9 Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Ef- 10 fects, signed at Geneva October 10, 1980 (commonly 11 known as the‘‘ Convention on Certain Conventional 12 Weapons’’) prohibits the indiscriminate use of weap- 13 ons, which is defined in the Convention on Certain 14 Conventional Weapons as ‘‘any placement of such 15 weapons. . .which may be expected to cause inci- 16 dental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage 17 to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which 18 would be excessive in relation to the concrete and di- 19 rect military advantage anticipated’’. 20 (3) Section 5.10 of the Department of Defense 21 Law of War Manual states that ‘‘[c]ommanders, at 22 all levels, have a great responsibility to exercise the 23 leadership necessary to reduce the risk of harm to 24 civilians and civilian objects’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1394.IS S1394 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1394 IS (4) In a report on autonomous weapons systems 1 published on December 1, 2021, Human Rights 2 Watch and the International Human Rights Clinic 3 of Harvard Law School argue that ‘‘[r]obots lack 4 the compassion, empathy, mercy, and judgment nec- 5 essary to treat humans humanely, and they cannot 6 understand the inherent worth of human life’’. 7 (5) The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review states 8 ‘‘[i]n all cases, the United States will maintain a 9 human ‘in the loop’ for all actions critical to inform- 10 ing and executing decisions by the President to ini- 11 tiate and terminate nuclear weapon employment’’. 12 (6) The National Security Commission on Arti- 13 ficial Intelligence recommends that the United 14 States ‘‘clearly and publicly affirm existing U.S. pol- 15 icy that only human beings can authorize employ- 16 ment of nuclear weapons and seek similar commit- 17 ments from Russia and China’’. 18 (7) On February 16, 2023, the Secretary of 19 State issued a Political Declaration on Responsible 20 Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, 21 which states that ‘‘States should maintain human 22 control and involvement for all actions critical to in- 23 forming and executing sovereign decisions con- 24 cerning nuclear weapons’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1394.IS S1394 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1394 IS (8) Large-scale nuclear war would lead to the 1 deaths of millions of people, firestorms, radioactive 2 fallout contamination, agricultural failure, and cata- 3 strophic climate results. 4 (9) Compliance with international humanitarian 5 law, human control and human legal judgment is es- 6 sential in the nuclear command and control process. 7 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 8 It is the sense of Congress that— 9 (1) the use of lethal, autonomous nuclear weap- 10 ons systems that are not subject to meaningful 11 human control cannot properly adhere to inter- 12 national humanitarian law; and 13 (2) any decision to launch a nuclear weapon 14 should not be made by artificial intelligence. 15 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO DE- 16 PLOY NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH AUTONO- 17 MOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS NOT SUBJECT TO 18 MEANINGFUL HUMAN CONTROL. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—None of the funds authorized to 20 be appropriated or otherwise made available for any fiscal 21 year may be obligated or expended to use an autonomous 22 weapons system that is not subject to meaningful human 23 control— 24 (1) to launch a nuclear weapon; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1394.IS S1394 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1394 IS (2) to select or engage targets for the purposes 1 of launching a nuclear weapon. 2 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEM.—The 4 term ‘‘autonomous weapons system’’ has the mean- 5 ing given such term in Department of Defense Di- 6 rective 3000.09 (relating to Autonomy in Weapons 7 Systems), as in effect on the date of the enactment 8 of this Act. 9 (2) MEANINGFUL HUMAN CONTROL.—The term 10 ‘‘meaningful human control’’ means, with respect to 11 an autonomous weapons system, human control of— 12 (A) the selection and engagement of tar- 13 gets; and 14 (B) the time, location, and manner of use. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1394.IS S1394 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS