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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Block Nuclear Launch 

5 by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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•S 1394 IS

1 (1) Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 

2 (relating to Autonomy in Weapons Systems), dated 

3 November 21, 2012, defines ‘‘autonomous weapons 

4 system’’ as a weapons system that, once activated, 

5 can select and engage targets without further inter6 vention by an operator. 

7 (2) Article 3, clause 8 of the Convention on 

8 Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain 

9 Conventional Weapons Which may be Deemed to be 

10 Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Ef11 fects, signed at Geneva October 10, 1980 (commonly 

12 known as the‘‘ Convention on Certain Conventional 

13 Weapons’’) prohibits the indiscriminate use of weap14 ons, which is defined in the Convention on Certain 

15 Conventional Weapons as ‘‘any placement of such 

16 weapons. . .which may be expected to cause inci17 dental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage 

18 to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which 

19 would be excessive in relation to the concrete and di20 rect military advantage anticipated’’. 

21 (3) Section 5.10 of the Department of Defense 

22 Law of War Manual states that ‘‘[c]ommanders, at 

23 all levels, have a great responsibility to exercise the 

24 leadership necessary to reduce the risk of harm to 

25 civilians and civilian objects’’. 


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1 (4) In a report on autonomous weapons systems 

2 published on December 1, 2021, Human Rights 

3 Watch and the International Human Rights Clinic 

4 of Harvard Law School argue that ‘‘[r]obots lack 

5 the compassion, empathy, mercy, and judgment nec6 essary to treat humans humanely, and they cannot 

7 understand the inherent worth of human life’’. 

8 (5) The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review states 

9 ‘‘[i]n all cases, the United States will maintain a 

10 human ‘in the loop’ for all actions critical to inform11 ing and executing decisions by the President to ini12 tiate and terminate nuclear weapon employment’’. 

13 (6) The National Security Commission on Arti14 ficial Intelligence recommends that the United 

15 States ‘‘clearly and publicly affirm existing U.S. pol16 icy that only human beings can authorize employ17 ment of nuclear weapons and seek similar commit18 ments from Russia and China’’. 

19 (7) On February 16, 2023, the Secretary of 

20 State issued a Political Declaration on Responsible 

21 Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, 

22 which states that ‘‘States should maintain human 

23 control and involvement for all actions critical to in24 forming and executing sovereign decisions con25 cerning nuclear weapons’’. 


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1 (8) Large-scale nuclear war would lead to the 

2 deaths of millions of people, firestorms, radioactive 

3 fallout contamination, agricultural failure, and cata4 strophic climate results. 

5 (9) Compliance with international humanitarian 

6 law, human control and human legal judgment is es7 sential in the nuclear command and control process. 

8 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

9 It is the sense of Congress that— 

10 (1) the use of lethal, autonomous nuclear weap11 ons systems that are not subject to meaningful 

12 human control cannot properly adhere to inter13 national humanitarian law; and 

14 (2) any decision to launch a nuclear weapon 

15 should not be made by artificial intelligence. 

16 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO DE17 PLOY NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH AUTONO18 MOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS NOT SUBJECT TO 

19 MEANINGFUL HUMAN CONTROL. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—None of the funds authorized to 

21 be appropriated or otherwise made available for any fiscal 

22 year may be obligated or expended to use an autonomous 

23 weapons system that is not subject to meaningful human 

24 control— 

25 (1) to launch a nuclear weapon; or 


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1 (2) to select or engage targets for the purposes 

2 of launching a nuclear weapon. 

3 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEM.—The 

5 term ‘‘autonomous weapons system’’ has the mean6 ing given such term in Department of Defense Di7 rective 3000.09 (relating to Autonomy in Weapons 

8 Systems), as in effect on the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act. 

10 (2) MEANINGFUL HUMAN CONTROL.—The term 

11 ‘‘meaningful human control’’ means, with respect to 

12 an autonomous weapons system, human control of— 

13 (A) the selection and engagement of tar14 gets; and 

15 (B) the time, location, and manner of use. 

Æ 


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