PUBLIC SECTOR: AUTONOMY IN WEAPONS SYSTEMS POLICY & INTERNATIONAL ADVOCACY

SITUATION

In 2011-2012, the Department of Defense had no formal guidance on how to develop or field autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons systems responsibly. Without clear policy, innovators faced uncertainty: how far could autonomy go? What testing, oversight, and ethical reviews were required before deployment? At the same time, international debates at the United Nations in Geneva were pressuring governments to restrict or ban such technologies outright.

OPPORTUNITY

DoD needed a policy framework that would give industry - from large primes to small startups - clear guardrails for innovation. The right directive could enable rapid prototyping and adoption of AI-enabled capabilities while ensuring compliance with U.S. and international law and protecting human oversight in the use of force.

RESULTS

Policy Leadership

• Contributed to the development of DoDI 3000.09, “Autonomy in Weapon Systems” - the first DoD directive providing formal guidance on autonomy

• Codified the principle that operators must maintain meaningful human control over any system authorized to use force

• Created shared language for autonomy levels, verification, validation, and senior-level review - enabling innovators to design with compliance in mind

International Engagement

• Represented the U.S. approach at the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), demonstrating autonomy can be developed responsibly

• Helped influence international norms in ways that protected space for innovation

Impact"

• Established clear “rules of the road” for autonomy, giving the defense base guidance on acceptable levels, testing, and oversight

• Reduced compliance risk by defining expectations for human control and validation early in development

• Protected U.S. leadership in responsible autonomy while shaping international standards