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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.” 

Today (October 28), Campaign to Stop Killer Robots coordinator Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch delivered a statement to the United National General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in New York, which concludes its annual deliberations next week.

Representatives from the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots will be in New York on 20-21 October to talk to government representatives and other United Nations (UN) delegates as well as media and the public about their concerns over fully autonomous weapons or “killer robots” and the need for government action.

Concerns over killer robots and armed drones were at the forefront of a “Night of Peace” or “De Nacht van de Vrede” event convened by Dutch non-governmental organization PAX in Amsterdam on 24 September, which featured talks by international speakers including a drone operator and roboticist.

ClearPath Robotics of Kitchener, Canada issued the following statement on 13 August 2014, pledging its support for the call for a preemptive ban on fully autonomous weapons. The company says it will continue to work with its military clients, but has "vouched to not manufacture weaponized robots that remove humans from the loop" as it "has chosen to value our ethics over potential future revenue."