AI policy groups call for NDAA guardrails on lethal autonomous weapons
AI policy groups urged Congress to include guardrails in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to ensure humans retain final authority over lethal autonomous weapons, citing risks from undefined Pentagon directives. Senate Democrats, including Kirsten Gillibrand and Elissa Slotkin, plan to introduce amendments requiring human oversight in AI-driven military decisions, following tensions between the Pentagon and Anthropic over weapon system restrictions.
Three AI policy organizations—Americans for Responsible Innovation, Alliance for Secure AI, and The AI Policy Network—called on House and Senate Armed Services Committees to add safeguards to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Their letter, shared with *The Hill*, argues that current Pentagon directives lack clear human oversight for lethal autonomous weapons, leaving critical decisions vulnerable to undefined interpretations. The groups referenced Vice President J.D. Vance’s recent call for human control over life-and-death decisions in warfare, urging Congress to act before the NDAA markup proceeds. Senate Democrats are advancing their own proposals to restrict AI use in military applications. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) plans to introduce elements of her *Secure and Accountable Military AI Act* as an amendment, banning AI-driven nuclear weapon launches, domestic surveillance, and fully autonomous weapons. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) will push her *AI Guardrails Act*, which prohibits autonomous weapons from firing without human approval and blocks AI use in nuclear or domestic surveillance. The push follows a public dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic, where the AI company sought contractual limits on lethal autonomous weapons and surveillance, clashing with the Defense Department’s demand for ‘all lawful uses.’ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth criticized Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in April, calling his stance an ‘ideological lunatic’ and comparing it to Boeing restricting military aircraft targets. The House Armed Services Committee will mark up the NDAA on Thursday, while the Senate plans discussions next week. The proposed amendments aim to codify human oversight in high-stakes AI military applications, addressing concerns over accountability in rapidly evolving technology.
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