US lawmakers want Trump to seek China’s pledge on human control of nuclear weapons

Two Democratic lawmakers have urged US President Donald Trump to secure a commitment from Chinese leader Xi Jinping that humans will remain in control of all decisions involving the launch of nuclear weapons.

Representative Ted Lieu of California and Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts asked Trump to raise the use of artificial intelligence in nuclear launch systems when he meets Xi next week.

Their letter, dated 15th September, calls on China to adopt the principle followed by the United States that AI must neither weaken nuclear safeguards nor remove human involvement from decisions to deploy nuclear weapons.

“AI should never launch a nuclear weapon by itself,” the lawmakers wrote.

The letter focuses specifically on the possible role of AI in nuclear command and launch systems. It asks Trump to seek a direct assurance from Xi that Beijing will retain meaningful human control over such decisions.

“As you prepare to meet with General Secretary Xi Jinping next week, we respectfully ask you to raise the issue of artificial intelligence and its use in nuclear weapons launch systems,” Lieu and Markey said.

They cited Section 1638 of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defence Authorisation Act as the basis of the US position. The provision states that the use of AI must not compromise the integrity of nuclear safeguards or the principle of keeping a human decision-maker involved in the deployment of nuclear weapons.

Lieu’s office said the two lawmakers had authored the provision to ensure that humans remained responsible for nuclear weapons decisions.

“The United States already requires that the use of AI should not compromise the integrity of nuclear safeguards or compromise the principle of maintaining a ‘human-in-the-loop’ in the employment of nuclear weapons,” the letter said.

The lawmakers urged Trump to obtain a commitment that China would follow the same standard.

The letter does not allege that Beijing has authorised AI systems to launch nuclear weapons without human approval. Nor does it provide details about China’s existing launch systems or the extent to which AI may be incorporated into them.

“We urge you to get general secretary Xi to commit the People’s Republic of China to the same principle that the United States already follows,” the lawmakers wrote.

Lieu and Markey argued that existing US policy gave Trump a clear basis to seek a corresponding assurance from China.

“Since the United States follows this basic principle, so should the PRC,” they said.

The lawmakers described direct engagement between Trump and Xi as essential to reducing the risks posed by AI in nuclear command systems.

“Your direct engagement on this matter is critical to ensuring AI doesn’t accidentally or intentionally cause a preventable nuclear disaster,” they wrote.

With IANS inputs