US, China opt out of joint declaration on AI use in military
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By Victoria Waldersee
A CORUNA, Spain, Feb 5 (Reuters) – Nearly a third of countries attending a military artificial intelligence summit agreed on Thursday to a declaration on how to govern the deployment of the technology in combat, but military heavyweights China and the United States remained out of it.
Several participants and delegates said tensions in relations between the United States and European allies and uncertainty about what transatlantic ties will look like in the coming months and years have made some countries hesitant to sign joint agreements.
The commitment underscores growing concern among some governments about rapid advances in technology. artificial intelligence It may bypass rules governing its military use, increasing the risk of accident, miscalculation, or unintentional tension.
Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said governments faced a “prisoner’s dilemma”, stuck between imposing responsible restrictions and not wanting to limit themselves compared to rivals.
“Russia and China are moving very quickly. This creates urgency to make progress in the development of artificial intelligence. But seeing them move quickly also increases the urgency to continue working on its responsible use. The two go hand in hand,” he told Reuters.
Only 35 of the 85 countries attending the Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military (REAIM) summit in A Coruna, Spain, signed a commitment to 20 principles for artificial intelligence on Thursday.
These included affirming human responsibility over AI-enabled weapons, promoting clear chains of command and control, and sharing information on national surveillance arrangements “where consistent with national security.”
The document also outlined the importance of risk assessments, robust testing, and education and training for personnel operating military AI capabilities.
At two previous military AI summits, held in The Hague and Seoul in 2023 and 2024 respectively, about 60 countries, excluding China but including the United States, approved a modest “action plan” without a legal commitment.
Although this year’s document is non-binding, some are still uncomfortable with the idea of supporting more concrete policies, said Yasmin Afina, a researcher and process advisor at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research.
The main countries that signed on Thursday included Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, South Korea and Ukraine.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; editing by Aislinn Laing and Mark Heinrich)
