Sixty countries endorse 'blueprint' for AI use in military; China opts out

About 60 countries including the United States endorsed a "blueprint for action" to govern responsible use of artificial intelligence in the military on Tuesday, but China was among those which did not support the legally non-binding document.

The Responsible AI in the Military Domain summit in Seoul, the second of its kind, follows one held in The Hague last year. At that time, around 60 nations including China endorsed a modest "call to action" without legal commitment.

Government representatives said on Tuesday said this year's "blueprint" was more action-oriented, in keeping with advanced discussions and developments in the military such as AI-enabled drones being rolled out by Ukraine, which also endorsed the document.

"We are making further concrete steps," Netherlands Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans told Reuters. "Last year … was more about creating shared understanding, now we are getting more towards action."

This includes laying out what kind of risk assessments should be made, important conditions such as human control, and how confidence-building measures can be taken in order to manage risks, he said.

Among the details added in the document was the need to prevent AI from being used to proliferate weapons of mass destruction by actors including terrorist groups, and the importance of maintaining human control and involvement in nuclear weapons employment.

There are many other initiatives on the issue, such as the U.S. government's declaration on responsible use of AI in the military launched last year.

The Seoul summit — co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and the United Kingdom — aims to ensure multi-stakeholder discussions are not dominated by a single nation or entity.

However, China was among