The 128 states party to a framework regulating weapons considered indiscriminate or causing excessive injuries have agreed on a document that could pave the way for international rules on autonomous weapons systems. The agreement, reached in Geneva on Saturday, marks a significant step after more than a decade of talks on how to regulate weapons systems capable of identifying and engaging targets with varying degrees of autonomy, systems sometimes referred to informally as autonomous combat robots.
Member states of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons had been meeting through the week in Geneva and reached consensus on the text overnight following talks that extended late into the night to overcome differences in language. The agreement comes as concern grows internationally over the use of lethal autonomous weapons systems in ongoing conflicts, including those in Ukraine, Sudan and the Middle East. While the document itself is non-binding, it could open the door to formal treaty negotiations on the issue in the future, representing a notable development after years of stalled progress on the subject.
However, at least one advocacy group raised concerns about the strength of the final text. Nicole van Rooijen, executive director at Stop Killer Robots, said the definition of an autonomous weapon within the text, along with the measures intended to reduce potential harm to civilians, appeared to have been weakened during the negotiation process. She noted that much of the work done by states on the text over the past three years had been substantially diluted in the final hours of discussion, pointing to disagreement over how strictly such systems should be defined and regulated under the agreed language.
Opposition from states including the United States and Russia played a role in shaping the final outcome, with both countries favouring national guidelines over internationally binding rules on autonomous weapons. Washington in particular sought flexibility within the non-binding text, including in areas related to the exercise of human judgment during the use of such systems. The outcome reflects the broader tension that has characterised discussions on this issue for years, between countries pushing for stronger international oversight of autonomous weapons technology and those preferring to retain greater national discretion over how such systems are developed, deployed and regulated within their own defense frameworks.
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