Five Senate bills move to keep humans in command of Pentagon AI
Five Senate bills in two weeks would write human control over autonomous weapons into statute, the legislative answer to Trump's order to speed military AI adoption.
Five Senate bills in two weeks would write human control over autonomous weapons into statute, the legislative answer to Trump's order to speed military AI adoption.
Sen. Mark Kelly introduced a two-bill package on June 5, the Ultimate Human Responsibility in Defense Systems Act and the Warfighter AI Readiness and Preparedness Act, his office said in a release. With measures already filed by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Adam Schiff, Chris Coons and Jack Reed, the Senate now has at least five bills pending on how the Pentagon buys and fields military AI.
Kelly's first bill writes DoD Directive 3000.09, the Pentagon's autonomy-in-weapons policy, into statute. The text defines "ultimate human responsibility" as the ability of commanders and operators to understand, supervise, intervene in or terminate a use of force, and it orders a department-wide database of system failures, near misses and targeting actions that depart from commander intent, per the bill summary. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam filed a House companion. The second measure, the WARP Act, is co-sponsored by Republican Tom Cotton and directs the Pentagon to identify which warfighter skills have to be preserved as AI spreads, and how units keep operating when the systems are jammed or down.
Schiff followed on June 8 with the Human Authority in Lethal Operations Act, which gives a designated commander final say over any autonomous use of force and bars AI from nuclear decisions and domestic mass surveillance, The Hill wrote. Coons and Reed filed the Responsible Artificial Intelligence in Defense Act the same day, per Axios.
Gillibrand's bill, filed in early June, would require a joint resolution of approval from Congress before the Pentagon could field a fully autonomous weapon. Michael Klare of the Arms Control Association called it "ambitious" in comments to Responsible Statecraft; San José State's Roberto González told the outlet the carve-outs, which leave semi-autonomous and defensive systems untouched, make any talk of prohibition "misleading."
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Subscribe Free →The wave follows the Pentagon's break with Anthropic, designated a supply-chain risk in March after the company refused to allow fully autonomous weapons use or domestic surveillance with its models; Anthropic is challenging the label in court, Axios noted. NSPM-11, the presidential memo signed June 5, pushed the other direction, ordering Directive 3000.09 rewritten within 90 days, and the department has since signed classified-network deals with OpenAI, Google, Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, according to Gizmodo.
Gillibrand plans to offer parts of her bill as amendments to this year's National Defense Authorization Act, Defense One reported.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do Sen. Kelly's two bills do?
The Ultimate Human Responsibility in Defense Systems Act writes the principles of DoD Directive 3000.09 into law, requiring that human commanders can supervise, intervene in or terminate any use of force by autonomous systems, per Kelly's office. The WARP Act, with Sen. Tom Cotton, orders the Pentagon to assess how AI reliance affects warfighter skills and readiness.
Which other senators have filed military-AI bills?
Sen. Adam Schiff introduced the HALO Act on June 8, The Hill reported. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand filed the Secure and Accountable Military AI Act in early June, and Sens. Chris Coons and Jack Reed introduced the Responsible Artificial Intelligence in Defense Act, per Axios. Sen. Elissa Slotkin has a similar measure.
Why is this happening now?
Gizmodo and Axios trace the push to the Pentagon's public falling-out with Anthropic, which was designated a supply-chain risk after refusing to allow its models to be used for fully autonomous weapons or domestic surveillance, and to NSPM-11, the June 5 presidential memo ordering faster military AI adoption.
Do any of the bills have Republican support?
Yes. Kelly's WARP Act is co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam introduced a House companion to Kelly's human-responsibility bill, according to the senator's press release.
What are the chances any of this passes?
The nearest vehicle is the National Defense Authorization Act. The Hill reported Gillibrand plans to offer parts of her bill as NDAA amendments. Arms-control experts quoted by Responsible Statecraft cautioned that exemptions for defensive and semi-autonomous systems could blunt the bills' effect even if they pass.
AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. More on our AI guidelines.
Marcus Schuler
Marcus Schuler edits BattlePolicy, a daily defense-technology brief connecting the companies and capabilities behind modern war to the contest among Europe, the US, Russia, and China.