US and China experts push for shared rules banning AI control over nuclear weapons
Experts from the US and China want to prevent AI systems from making autonomous decisions about deploying nuclear weapons. Melanie Sisson of the Brookings Institution and Tianjiao Jiang of Fudan University published specific proposals ahead of a planned meeting between Trump and Xi on September 24.
The proposals spell out several red lines. No AI system should be allowed to launch nuclear weapons on its own or attack nuclear command systems. Humans must retain sole control over AI-driven cyberattacks on strategic infrastructure. Both countries should agree on a shared definition of "human control." The recommendations build on an agreement Biden and Xi reached in November 2024.
Jiang also proposes a hotline for AI incidents. If a defensive AI system automatically responds to suspicious activity, the other side might read it as an attack. A direct line would let one government clarify that an incident was accidental before the situation escalates. Ad
This isn't the first time someone has raised the alarm. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) called for preserving human control over nuclear weapons back in 2021 . Binding mechanisms still don't exist, though. Carla Freeman of Johns Hopkins University questions whether such hotlines would even work. During the spy balloon crisis in 2023, China didn't pick up when the US called. Ad
AI News Without the Hype – Curated by Humans
Subscribe to THE DECODER for ad-free reading, a weekly AI newsletter, our exclusive "AI Radar" frontier report six times a year, full archive access, and access to our comment section.