1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

Regulate autonomous military AI now. Reports that the Department of Defense pressured an AI contractor to remove safety guardrails — including restrictions on autonomous targeting and surveillance — are alarming. No administration should have unchecked authority to deploy AI systems without enforceable safeguards. Congress must require human-in-the-loop control for all AI capable of surveillance or use of force, ban fully autonomous weapons domestically, mandate transparency for federal AI contracts, establish independent civilian oversight, and protect ethical guardrails and whistleblowers. AI must not be weaponized against civilians without strict democratic oversight. Pass binding AI safety legislation immediately. The fact that Secretary Hegseth opposed restricting AI use that would allow for killing without human intervention and use that would foster surveillance of citizens means that these reasonable safeguards would not be respected, or at the very least our Department of Defense intends to overreach on its mandate.