The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross warned on Tuesday that the world is "dangerously close" to machines autonomously attacking people, urging governments to immediately begin negotiations on a legally binding treaty to regulate autonomous weapons systems.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres and ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger said in a joint statement that the rapid development of the technology has outpaced regulation, warning that risks to the international community have "intensified." The pair previously called in 2023 for states to agree on specific bans and restrictions by this year. The appeal comes amid growing concern over AI-enabled semi-autonomous weapons deployed in conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, Iran and the Gulf states, though no confirmed use of fully autonomous weapons has occurred to date.
Countries are due to decide in November at a review conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in Geneva whether to launch full treaty negotiations, following three years of discussions. Russia, the United States and Israel have resisted concrete agreements on so-called killer robots. An additional round of talks is scheduled in Geneva next week, with no specific treaty currently in place.