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A senior US official released an urgent call to China and Russia to match the declarations made by several other countries, stating that only humans would make decisions on deploying nuclear weapons, and the power would never be in the hands of artificial intelligence.
Paul Dean, principal deputy assistant secretary in the US Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability, said that Washington made a “clear and strong commitment” that humans had total control over nuclear weapons, and added that France and Britain had also joined them in the same commitment – “We would welcome a similar statement by China and the Russian Federation.” He added that it is an extremely important norm of responsible behavior and that he thinks it is something that would be very welcome in a P5 context (referring to the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council).
These statements come at a time when the administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to deepen its discussions with China over matters of nuclear weapons policy and the growth of artificial intelligence technology. However, the Chinese defense ministry reportedly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Cybernews, discussions of the spread of artificial intelligence technology surfaced during sweeping talks between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, when the two spoke on April 26th in Beijing. Blinken reportedly said that the two representatives agreed to hold their first joint talks on artificial intelligence in the coming weeks, where they would share views on how best to manage risks and safety surrounding the technology.
While the US and Chinese officials resumed nuclear weapons discussions at the beginning of 2024 in an effort to normalize military communications, formal arms control negotiations are not expected any time soon.
China is reportedly expanding its nuclear weapon capabilities and insisted that the largest nuclear powers should first negotiate a no-first-use treaty with each other.
This information was provided by Cybernews.
