Comment by Protect Democracy

The Pentagon is punishing one of the United States’ leading frontier AI labs for refusing to lift contractual restrictions prohibiting government use of its products for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. These restrictions not only command bipartisan support, but are essential in the absence of meaningful legal and oversight mechanisms that could check the risks and abuses of such AI uses. At stake are two “red lines” that command broad support: AI should not be used to surveil American civilians en masse, and currently available AI systems should not be permitted to select and kill targets without a human in the loop.