,,ii #aaith ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #dgjg ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #h1 #bjbf,mr4 ,coons 7for himself and ,mr4 ,reed7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,armed ,services ,a ,,bill ,to amend title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 to establish policy for the ,department of ,defense on maximizing autonomy and artificial intelligence systems1 to establish requirements relating to ,department review and verification of autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence capabilities1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,responsible ,artificial ,intelligence ,defense ,act of #bjbf4 #b4 ,policy and guidance related to autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence capabilities acquisition 7a7 ,in general ,chapter #cde of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by adding at the end the following new section3 #degg4 ,autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence capabilities acquisition2 planning and oversight processes 7a7 ,policy ,it is the policy of the ,department of ,defense to maximize uses of autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities to the extent practicable1 while ensuring and maintaining that implementation of such autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities provides continuous and rigorous human oversight to ensure that operations are conducted in accordance with the law of war1 applicable treaties1 weapon system safety rules1 applicable rules of engagement1 and long-standing frameworks protecting the privacy and civil liberties of ,united ,states persons4 7b7 ,requirement ,in accordance with the policy set forth in subsection 7a71 the ,secretary of ,defense shall-- 7#a7 ensure personnel exercise appropriate levels of human judgment and consistently monitor any deployed artificial intelligence-enabled autonomous weapons systems1 while remaining responsible for the development1 deployment1 and use of autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence capabilities2 7#b7 take deliberate steps to ensure accuracy in autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence capabilities2 7#c7 develop and deploy autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence capabilities in a manner that promotes an appropriate understanding of the technology1 their development processes1 and operational methods applicable to autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence capabilities2 7#d7 subject prototype and deployed autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities to routine testing and information assurance across their entire life cycles to ensure that capabilities meet defined safety1 security1 and effectiveness parameters2 and 7#e7 design and engineer autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities to fulfill their intended functions1 and deploy these capabilities such that human operators-- 7,a7 retain the ability to detect and avoid unintended consequences or behaviors2 and 7,b7 retain a means for human intervention to disengage or deactivate deployed systems that demonstrate unintended or illegal behavior4 7c7 ,review for autonomous weapons systems and supporting artificial intelligence capabilities 7#a7 ,levels of human judgment 7,a7 ,the ,secretary shall ensure that any autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability to be utilized by the ,department1 except as exempted by subsection 7c71 is categorized by the appropriate level of human judgment required to mitigate risks to life1 safety and health of ,department personnel or noncombatant civilian harm4 7,b7 ,for purposes of subparagraph 7,a71 appropriate levels of human judgment for an autonomous weapon system shall consist of two levels as follows3 7i7 ,level #a1 which means that the weapon system poses little to no risk to human life or safety should the system fail to act as designed4 7ii7 ,level #b1 which means that the weapon system poses moderate to high risk to human life or safety should the system fail to act as designed4 7,c7 ,appropriate levels of human judgment for an artificial intelligence capability shall consist of two levels as follows3 7i7 ,level #a1 which means that the artificial intelligence capability poses little to no risk as a result of compromise of data integrity or operational support should the system fail to act as designed4 7ii7 ,level #b1 which means that the artificial intelligence capability-- 7,i7 uses data protected by section #eeb;a of title #e 7commonly known as the ,privacy ,act of #aigd7 or regulations promulgated under the ,health ,insurance ,portability and ,accountability ,act of #aiif 7,public ,law #ajd-aia72 or 7,,ii7 poses a risk such that the failure of the artificial intelligence system to act as designed would severely affect the ability of the ,department to perform the designated mission of the artificial intelligence capability4 7#b7 ,review and verification ,subject to subsection 7d71 for any autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability under development or being fielded by the ,department1 the ,secretary shall ensure that such autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability requires-- 7,a7 before a decision to enter prototyping or formal development1 review and verification by the ,under ,secretary of ,defense for ,research and ,engineering that-- 7i7 the system design incorporates the necessary capabilities to allow commanders1 operators1 and analysts to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force in the envisioned planning and employment processes for the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability2 7ii7 7,i7 the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability is designed to complete engagements within a timeframe and geographic area1 as well as other applicable environmental and operational parameters1 consistent with commander and operator intentions2 or 7,,ii7 if not designed as described in subclause 7,i71 the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability will terminate engagements or obtain additional operator input before continuing the engagement2 7iii7 the combination of the design and concept of employment of the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability1 such as its target selection and engagement logic and other relevant processes or measures1 accounts for risks to nontargets1 consistent with commander and operator intent and the laws of war2 7iv7 the design of the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability1 including system safety1 anti-tamper mechanisms1 and the cybersecurity of the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability1 in accordance with ,department of ,defense ,instruction #hejj4ja 7relating to cybersecurity71 or successor instruction1 addresses and minimizes the probability and consequences of failures2 7v7 plans are in place for verification and validation and test and evaluation to establish the reliability1 effectiveness1 and suitability of the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability under realistic conditions1 including possible adversary actions1 to a sufficient standard consistent with the potential consequences of an unintended engagement or unauthorized parties interfering with the operation of the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability prior to fielding2 and 7vi7 a preliminary legal review of the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability has been completed-- 7,i7 in coordination with the ,general ,counsel of the ,department of ,defense2 and 7,,ii7 in accordance with ,department of ,defense ,directive #ejjj4ja 7relating to ,defense ,acquisition ,system71 or successor directive1 ,department of ,defense ,directive #bcaa4ja 7relating to ,department of ,defense ,law of ,war ,program71 or successor directive1 and1 where applicable1 ,department of ,defense ,directive #cjjj4jc;,e 7relating to ,department of ,defense ,agent for ,non-,lethal ,weapons and ,non-,lethal ,weapon ,policy71 or successor directive2 and 7,b7 before fielding1 review and verification by the ,under ,secretary for ,research and ,engineering1 in consultation with the ,vice ,chairman of the ,joint ,chiefs of ,staff1 that1 with respect to the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability-- 7i7 system capabilities1 human-machine interfaces1 doctrine1 tactics1 techniques and procedures1 and training have been demonstrated to allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force and to employ systems with appropriate care and in accordance with the law of war1 applicable treaties1 weapon system safety rules1 and definable rules of engagement that are applicable or reasonably expected to be applicable2 7ii7 system safety1 anti-tamper mechanisms1 cyber survivability1 operational resilience1 and cybersecurity capabilities have been implemented to minimize the probability and consequences of failures2 7iii7 for autonomous weapon systems or artificial intelligence capabilities that are being fielded that may have gone through the development pipeline and verified under subparagraph 7,a71 an updated legal review of the weapon system or artificial intelligence capability has been completed-- 7,i7 in coordination with the ,general ,counsel of the ,department of ,defense2 and 7,,ii7 in accordance with ,department of ,defense ,directive #ejjj4ja 7relating to ,defense ,acquisition ,system71 or successor directive1 ,department of ,defense ,directive #bcaa4ja 7relating to ,department of ,defense ,law of ,war ,program71 or successor directive1 and1 where applicable1 ,department of ,defense ,directive #cjjj4jc;,e 7relating to ,department of ,defense ,agent for ,non-,lethal ,weapons and ,non-,lethal ,weapon ,policy71 or successor directive2 and 7iv7 a monitoring regime is in place to identify and address changes in operational environment1 data inputs1 and use that could contribute to failure of the system or capability to act in a manner consistent with the intent for the system or capability4 7#c7 ,validity of verification 7,a7 ,the ,secretary shall treat each verification under paragraph 7#b7 or paragraph 7#d7 as valid for a period of three years4 7,b7 ,an autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability that is a substantially similar variant of another autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability that is verified under paragraph 7#b7 or paragraph 7#d7 shall also be treated as verified4 7#d7 ,subsequent review and verification 7,a7 ,for any autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability that was previously verified under paragraph 7#b77;,a7 or exempted under any predecessor review process under ,department of ,defense ,directive #cjjj4ji 7relating to ,autonomy in ,weapon ,systems71 that does not currently have a valid verification pursuant to paragraph 7#c71 the ,secretary shall ensure that it undergoes subsequent review and verification under such paragraph4 7,b7 ,for any autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability that was previously verified under paragraph 7#b77;,b7 or exempted under any predecessor review process under ,department of ,defense ,directive #cjjj4ji 7relating to ,autonomy in ,weapon ,systems7 that does not currently have a valid verification pursuant to paragraph 7#c71 the ,secretary shall ensure that it undergoes subsequent review and verification under such paragraph as if it had not been deployed4 7#e7 ,privacy impact assessments 7,a7 ,for each artificial intelligence capability classified under subsection 7c77#a77;,c77ii71 the ,secretary ensure that a privacy impact assessment is conducted by the ,director for ,privacy1 ,civil ,liberties and ,transparency4 7,b7 ,in carrying out a privacy impact assessment under subparagraph 7,a71 the ,director may consult with such technical and policy experts in the ,department of ,defense or elsewhere in the ,federal ,government as the ,director considers appropriate4 7#f7 ,waiver of updated legal review ,the ,under ,secretary of ,defense for ,research and ,engineering may temporarily waive the requirement for an updated legal review under paragraph 7#b77;,b77iii7 for longer than one year if the capability is being deployed in response to real-world conflict or for compelling national interest4 7d7 ,exceptions ,the following categories of autonomous weapon systems are not subject to the policy set forth in subsection 7a7 or the requirements of subsection 7b7 and 7c73 7#a7 ,operator-supervised autonomous weapon systems used to select and engage materiel targets to intercept attempted time-critical or saturation attacks4 7#b7 ,operator-supervised autonomous weapon systems used to select and engage materiel targets for defending operationally deployed remotely piloted or autonomous vehicles or vessels4 7#c7 ,autonomous or semi-autonomous cyberspace capabilities1 reasonably judged to be non-lethal in nature4 7#d7 ,unarmed platforms1 whether remotely operated or operated by onboard personnel1 and whether autonomous or semi-autonomous4 7#e7 ,unguided munitions4 7#f7 ,munitions manually guided by the operator4 7#g7 ,mines4 7#h7 ,unexploded explosive ordnance4 7#i7 ,autonomous or semi-autonomous systems that are not weapon systems4 7#aj7 ,any weapon system-- 7,a7 that is not continuously monitored by a human operator2 7,b7 that the ,secretary1 after completing review of the system per subsection 7c71 has determined to be safer and more reliable for the intended use than alternative systems that are verified for such use per subsection 7c7 and involve continuous human supervision2 and 7,c7 for which-- 7i7 the ,secretary has notified the congressional defense committees of the intended use of the system2 and 7ii7 no congressional defense committee has objected to during the #cj-;day period beginning on the date on which the notice was submitted under clause 7i74 7e7 ,prohibitions on certain uses of autonomy or artificial intelligence capabilities ,except as may be provided in another statute1 the ,secretary may not use autonomy or an artificial intelligence capability for any of the following use cases3 7#a7 ,for the decision to initiate the launch of a nuclear weapon4 7#b7 ,for the monitoring1 tracking1 profiling1 or targeting of an individual or group of individuals reasonably believed to be in the ,united ,states1 without a warrant obtained based on probable cause of a crime with an individualized1 articulable legal basis1 or the collection1 querying1 or analysis of information about the same not otherwise permissible under the ,constitution of the ,united ,states1 regardless of the origin of the data used1 except for activities conducted in accordance with applicable provisions of law4 7#c7 ,in the employment of lethal force by autonomous weapon systems without incorporation of appropriate levels of human judgment4 7f7 ,verification1 validation1 testing and evaluation of autonomous weapon systems leveraging autonomy or artificial intelligence systems ,for each autonomy and artificial intelligence system that is covered by the policy set forth in subsection 7a71 regardless of the acquisition pathway or test and evaluation oversight status for an autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability1 the ,director for ,operational ,test and ,evaluation shall ensure the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability functions as anticipated in realistic operational environments against adaptive adversaries and are sufficiently robust to minimize failures1 including by ensuring-- 7#a7 such autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability goes through rigorous hardware and software verification and validation and realistic system developmental and operational test and evaluation1 including analysis of unanticipated emergent behavior to assess system performance1 capability1 reliability1 effectiveness1 and suitability under realistic conditions1 including possible adversary actions1 consistent with the potential consequences of unintended engagement or unauthorized parties interfering with the operation of the system or capability2 7#b7 hardware and software verification and validation include iterative cyber test and evaluation in accordance with ,department of ,defense ,instruction #ejjj4hi 7relating to ,test and ,evaluation71 or successor instruction1 to verify that autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability is resilient and survivable in contested cyberspace1 if relevant to the purpose and mission of the system or capability2 7#c7 systems incorporating autonomy or artificial intelligence capabilities go through rigorous developmental and operational test and evaluation to verify and validate that autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability is robust according to design requirements2 7#d7 test and evaluation of systems incorporating autonomy or artificial intelligence capabilities include testing to confirm that their autonomy or artificial intelligence algorithms can be rapidly reprogrammed on new input data to enable timely correction of any unintended system behaviors that may be observed or discovered during future system operations2 7#e7 adequate training1 tactics1 techniques1 procedures1 and doctrine are available1 periodically reviewed1 and used by system operators and commanders to understand the functioning1 capabilities1 and limitations of the system's autonomy or artificial intelligence in realistic operational conditions2 7#f7 system design and human-machine interfaces are readily understandable to trained operators1 with clear ability for trained operators to activate and deactivate system functions2 7#g7 after initial operational testing and evaluation1 as directed by the ,director1 system data is collected and any further changes to the system undergo appropriate verification1 validation1 test1 and evaluation to ensure that critical safety features have not been degraded2 7#h7 system software is tested using the best means and methods available to the ,department to validate that critical safety features have not been degraded2 7#i7 automated testing tools1 such as modeling and simulation1 are used whenever feasible2 7#aj7 testing identifies any new operating states and other relevant changes in the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability2 7#aa7 as directed by the ,director-- 7,a7 each new or revised operating state undergoes appropriate and tailored additional test and evaluation to characterize the system behavior in that new operating state2 and 7,b7 whole system follow-on operational test and evaluation when required due to changes to the state transition matrix2 and 7#ab7 in coordination with the ,under ,secretary for ,research and ,engineering and ,director1 the owning component of the ,department provides for monitoring to identify and address when changes to the system design or operational environment require additional testing and evaluation to provide sufficient confidence that the system will continue to avoid unintended engagements and resist interference by unauthorized parties4 7g7 ,autonomy and ,artificial ,intelligence ,systems ,working ,group 7#a7 ,establishment 7,a7 ,the ,secretary shall establish and charter a working group for the purposes set forth in paragraph 7#b74 7,b7 ,the working group established under subparagraph 7,a7 shall be known as the ,autonomy and ,artificial ,intelligence ,working ,group4 7#b7 ,purposes ,the purposes set forth in this paragraph are as follows3 7,a7 ,to support the ,under ,secretary of ,defense for ,research and ,engineering1 and the ,vice ,chairman of the ,joint ,chiefs of ,staff in considering the full range of relevant ,department interests during the review of autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence capabilities before formal development4 7,b7 ,to support the ,under ,secretary of ,defense for ,research and ,engineering and the ,vice ,chairman of the ,joint ,chiefs of ,staff1 in considering the full range of relevant ,department interests during the review of autonomous weapon systems before deployment4 7,c7 ,when requested by appropriate representatives of the secretaries of the military departments1 the ,commander of ,united ,states ,special ,operations ,command1 or1 when applicable1 a director of a defense agency or a ,department of ,defense ,field ,activity-- 7i7 to advise whether a given weapon system requires senior-level approval in accordance with this section2 and 7ii7 to help identify and advise on addressing potential issues presented by a given weapon system during a potential senior-level review in accordance with this section4 7,d7 ,to develop and issue safety standards for use of autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities in evaluation of such capabilities4 7h7 ,annual report ,not later than ,january #ca of each year until ,january #ca1 #bjcg1 the ,secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees an annual report on the administration of this section4 7i7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,the term artificial intelligence has the meaning given the term section #ejjb of the ,national ,artificial ,intelligence ,initiative ,act of #bjbj 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #idja74 7#b7 ,the term autonomous weapon systems means a weapon system that1 once activated1 can select and engage targets without further intervention by an operator4 ,such term includes operator-supervised autonomous weapon systems that are designed to allow operators to override operation of the weapon system but can select and engage targets without further operator input after activation4 7#c7 ,the term autonomy means a capability 7or set of capabilities7 that enables a particular action of a system to be automatic or1 within specified boundaries self-governing with minimal human oversight4 4 7b7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of sections for chapter #cde of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code is amended by inserting after the item related to section #degf the following new item3 #degg4 ,autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence capabilities acquisition2 planning and oversight processes4 4