Latest news

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots acknowledges the contributions made by Ms. Angela Kane of Germany, United Nations (UN) High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, in leading efforts to address the emerging issue of fully autonomous weapons systems.

The second multilateral meeting on “lethal autonomous weapons systems” by members of the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) will be held at the United Nations (UN) Palais des Nations in Geneva on 13-17 April 2015. On Monday, 13 April, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots will hold a side event briefing for all CCW delegations, featuring the following representatives:

Concerns over fully autonomous weapons or "killer robots" have been raised at the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland with various publications and speakers addressing the matter. This is the first time that the annual meeting of world leaders from government, business, and civil society has considered the challenges posed by weapons systems that select targets and use force without further human intervention.

Prominent scientists and researchers from industry and academia have signed an open letter calling for artificial intelligence (AI) and smart machine research to focus on developing systems that are "robust and beneficial" to humanity. The letter links to a document outlining "research directions that can help maximize the societal benefit of AI" that includes a list of legal, ethical, and other questions relating to 'lethal autonomous weapons systems,' also known as fully autonomous weapons or killer robots.

The first-ever multilateral meeting held earlier this year on “lethal autonomous weapons systems” marked a key milestone for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, while the consensus agreement by nations to hold another meeting at the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) on 13-17 April 2015 confirms the matter is now firmly on the international agenda and unlikely to disappear anytime soon. 

An article that appeared on the front page of The New York Times on 12 November detailing the trend towards autonomous warfare by the United States and other nations with high-tech militaries has attracted significant interest. The in-depth piece by science writer John Markoff is the outlet’s first on the “killer robots” challenge since Bill Keller’s reflections in March 2013 and Nick Cumming-Bruce’s coverage of the May 2013 report by UN special rapporteur Christof Heyns, including his call for a moratorium.

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots welcomes the decision taken by nations at the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) at the United Nations in Geneva today to continue their deliberations on “lethal autonomous weapons systems.” The decision is an important acknowledgement of the legal, technical, ethical, operational, and societal concerns that have been raised. The broad consensus expressed for continuing the talks shows it is clear that “doing nothing” in the face of ever-greater autonomy in warfare is not an option.

13 November 2014 Geneva PRESS RELEASE: Substantive Talks on Killer Robots Must Continue – Convention on Conventional Weapons decision due on 14 November Nations must continue and deepen their deliberations in 2015 on the questions relating to ‘lethal…

Government delegates attending next week's annual meeting of the Convention on Conventional Weapons  (CCW) at the United Nations in Geneva will decide whether to continue in 2015 with multilateral talks on questions relating to “lethal autonomous weapons systems.”