Slotkin Legislation Puts Common-sense Guardrails on DOD AI Use Around Lethal Force, Spying on Americans and Nuclear Weapons

WASHINGTON, D.C.
– Today, Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) introduced the
AI Guardrails Act
to establish left and right limits on how the Department of Defense can use AI. The bill establishes clear guardrails in three areas. It would ban the DOD from firing autonomous weapons to kill without human authorization, from using AI to spy on Americans and from using AI to launch nuclear weapons.
In a recent Senate Armed Services hearing, Slotkin pressed Trump Administration nominees on the use of AI. Watch that committee clip
here.
“Congress is behind in putting left and right limits on the use of AI, and the first place to start should be at the Pentagon,”
said Senator Slotkin.
“My bill ensures a human is involved when deadly autonomous weapons are fired, AI cannot be used to spy on the American people, and that a human is on the switch to launch nuclear weapons. AI is going to shape the future of America’s national security, and we must win the AI race against China. But to do that, we need action that puts limits on AI in the Department of Defense. This is just common sense.
”
The
AI Guardrails Act
codifies common-sense rules in the following areas:
The launch of lethal strikes using autonomous weapon systems.
Human responsibility is at the core of military command and control. This legislation ensures humans are the ones authorizing when and how autonomous lethal weapon systems are fired.
Spying on Americans.
The U.S. Constitution and our domestic laws provide protection against the U.S. Government’s potential abuse of authorities, including domestic mass surveillance.  This legislation further prevents government invasion of individuals’ privacy and constitutional rights by clearly and explicitly prohibiting DoD’s use of AI for domestic mass surveillance.
The launch or detonation of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons are strategic capabilities that have the potential for mass destruction. As such, this legislation ensures the decision to launch nuclear weapons rests solely with the Commander-in-Chief, not machines. These safeguards would apply across the full AI lifecycle, from development and testing to deployment and post-deployment continuous monitoring.
Read a one-pager on the bill
HERE
and the full text of the bill
HERE.
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