S. 4707

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4707 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4707

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish policy for the 
Department of Defense on maximizing autonomy and artificial 
intelligence systems, to establish requirements relating to Department 
review and verification of autonomous weapon systems and artificial 
intelligence capabilities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 8, 2026

Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Reed) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish policy for the 
Department of Defense on maximizing autonomy and artificial 
intelligence systems, to establish requirements relating to Department 
review and verification of autonomous weapon systems and artificial 
intelligence capabilities, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Responsible Artificial Intelligence 
Defense Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. POLICY AND GUIDANCE RELATED TO AUTONOMOUS WEAPON SYSTEMS AND 
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAPABILITIES ACQUISITION.

(a) In General.--Chapter 345 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 4577. Autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence 
capabilities acquisition; planning and oversight 
processes
``(a) Policy.--It is the policy of the Department of Defense to 
maximize uses of autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities to 
the extent practicable, while ensuring and maintaining that 
implementation of such autonomy and artificial intelligence 
capabilities provides continuous and rigorous human oversight to ensure 
that operations are conducted in accordance with the law of war, 
applicable treaties, weapon system safety rules, applicable rules of 
engagement, and long-standing frameworks protecting the privacy and 
civil liberties of United States persons.
``(b) Requirement.--In accordance with the policy set forth in 
subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall--
``(1) ensure personnel exercise appropriate levels of human 
judgment and consistently monitor any deployed artificial 
intelligence-enabled autonomous weapons systems, while 
remaining responsible for the development, deployment, and use 
of autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence 
capabilities;
``(2) take deliberate steps to ensure accuracy in 
autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence 
capabilities;
``(3) develop and deploy autonomous weapon systems and 
artificial intelligence capabilities in a manner that promotes 
an appropriate understanding of the technology, their 
development processes, and operational methods applicable to 
autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence 
capabilities;
``(4) subject prototype and deployed autonomy and 
artificial intelligence capabilities to routine testing and 
information assurance across their entire life cycles to ensure 
that capabilities meet defined safety, security, and 
effectiveness parameters; and
``(5) design and engineer autonomy and artificial 
intelligence capabilities to fulfill their intended functions, 
and deploy these capabilities such that human operators--
``(A) retain the ability to detect and avoid 
unintended consequences or behaviors; and
``(B) retain a means for human intervention to 
disengage or deactivate deployed systems that 
demonstrate unintended or illegal behavior.
``(c) Review for Autonomous Weapons Systems and Supporting 
Artificial Intelligence Capabilities.--
``(1) Levels of human judgment.--(A) The Secretary shall 
ensure that any autonomous weapon system or artificial 
intelligence capability to be utilized by the Department, 
except as exempted by subsection (c), is categorized by the 
appropriate level of human judgment required to mitigate risks 
to life, safety and health of Department personnel or 
noncombatant civilian harm.
``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), appropriate levels 
of human judgment for an autonomous weapon system shall consist 
of two levels as follows:
``(i) Level 1, which means that the weapon system 
poses little to no risk to human life or safety should 
the system fail to act as designed.
``(ii) Level 2, which means that the weapon system 
poses moderate to high risk to human life or safety 
should the system fail to act as designed.
``(C) Appropriate levels of human judgment for an 
artificial intelligence capability shall consist of two levels 
as follows:
``(i) Level 1, which means that the artificial 
intelligence capability poses little to no risk as a 
result of compromise of data integrity or operational 
support should the system fail to act as designed.
``(ii) Level 2, which means that the artificial 
intelligence capability--
``(I) uses data protected by section 552a 
of title 5 (commonly known as the `Privacy Act 
of 1974') or regulations promulgated under the 
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191); or
``(II) poses a risk such that the failure 
of the artificial intelligence system to act as 
designed would severely affect the ability of 
the Department to perform the designated 
mission of the artificial intelligence 
capability.
``(2) Review and verification.--Subject to subsection (d), 
for any autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence 
capability under development or being fielded by the 
Department, the Secretary shall ensure that such autonomous 
weapon system or artificial intelligence capability requires--
``(A) before a decision to enter prototyping or 
formal development, review and verification by the 
Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering 
that--
``(i) the system design incorporates the 
necessary capabilities to allow commanders, 
operators, and analysts to exercise appropriate 
levels of human judgment over the use of force 
in the envisioned planning and employment 
processes for the autonomous weapon system or 
artificial intelligence capability;
``(ii)(I) the autonomous weapon system or 
artificial intelligence capability is designed 
to complete engagements within a timeframe and 
geographic area, as well as other applicable 
environmental and operational parameters, 
consistent with commander and operator 
intentions; or
``(II) if not designed as described in 
subclause (I), the autonomous weapon system or 
artificial intelligence capability will 
terminate engagements or obtain additional 
operator input before continuing the 
engagement;
``(iii) the combination of the design and 
concept of employment of the autonomous weapon 
system or artificial intelligence capability, 
such as its target selection and engagement 
logic and other relevant processes or measures, 
accounts for risks to nontargets, consistent 
with commander and operator intent and the laws 
of war;
``(iv) the design of the autonomous weapon 
system or artificial intelligence capability, 
including system safety, anti-tamper 
mechanisms, and the cybersecurity of the 
autonomous weapon system or artificial 
intelligence capability, in accordance with 
Department of Defense Instruction 8500.01 
(relating to cybersecurity), or successor 
instruction, addresses and minimizes the 
probability and consequences of failures;
``(v) plans are in place for verification 
and validation and test and evaluation to 
establish the reliability, effectiveness, and 
suitability of the autonomous weapon system or 
artificial intelligence capability under 
realistic conditions, including possible 
adversary actions, to a sufficient standard 
consistent with the potential consequences of 
an unintended engagement or unauthorized 
parties interfering with the operation of the 
autonomous weapon system or artificial 
intelligence capability prior to fielding; and
``(vi) a preliminary legal review of the 
autonomous weapon system or artificial 
intelligence capability has been completed--
``(I) in coordination with the 
General Counsel of the Department of 
Defense; and
``(II) in accordance with 
Department of Defense Directive 5000.01 
(relating to Defense Acquisition 
System), or successor directive, 
Department of Defense Directive 2311.01 
(relating to Department of Defense Law 
of War Program), or successor 
directive, and, where applicable, 
Department of Defense Directive 
3000.03E (relating to Department of 
Defense Agent for Non-Lethal Weapons 
and Non-Lethal Weapon Policy), or 
successor directive; and
``(B) before fielding, review and verification by 
the Under Secretary for Research and Engineering, in 
consultation with the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 
of Staff, that, with respect to the autonomous weapon 
system or artificial intelligence capability--
``(i) system capabilities, human-machine 
interfaces, doctrine, tactics, techniques and 
procedures, and training have been demonstrated 
to allow commanders and operators to exercise 
appropriate levels of human judgment over the 
use of force and to employ systems with 
appropriate care and in accordance with the law 
of war, applicable treaties, weapon system 
safety rules, and definable rules of engagement 
that are applicable or reasonably expected to 
be applicable;
``(ii) system safety, anti-tamper 
mechanisms, cyber survivability, operational 
resilience, and cybersecurity capabilities have 
been implemented to minimize the probability 
and consequences of failures;
``(iii) for autonomous weapon systems or 
artificial intelligence capabilities that are 
being fielded that may have gone through the 
development pipeline and verified under 
subparagraph (A), an updated legal review of 
the weapon system or artificial intelligence 
capability has been completed--
``(I) in coordination with the 
General Counsel of the Department of 
Defense; and
``(II) in accordance with 
Department of Defense Directive 5000.01 
(relating to Defense Acquisition 
System), or successor directive, 
Department of Defense Directive 2311.01 
(relating to Department of Defense Law 
of War Program), or successor 
directive, and, where applicable, 
Department of Defense Directive 
3000.03E (relating to Department of 
Defense Agent for Non-Lethal Weapons 
and Non-Lethal Weapon Policy), or 
successor directive; and
``(iv) a monitoring regime is in place to 
identify and address changes in operational 
environment, data inputs, and use that could 
contribute to failure of the system or 
capability to act in a manner consistent with 
the intent for the system or capability.
``(3) Validity of verification.--(A) The Secretary shall 
treat each verification under paragraph (2) or paragraph (4) as 
valid for a period of three years.
``(B) An autonomous weapon system or artificial 
intelligence capability that is a substantially similar variant 
of another autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence 
capability that is verified under paragraph (2) or paragraph 
(4) shall also be treated as verified.
``(4) Subsequent review and verification.--(A) For any 
autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability 
that was previously verified under paragraph (2)(A) or exempted 
under any predecessor review process under Department of 
Defense Directive 3000.09 (relating to Autonomy in Weapon 
Systems), that does not currently have a valid verification 
pursuant to paragraph (3), the Secretary shall ensure that it 
undergoes subsequent review and verification under such 
paragraph.
``(B) For any autonomous weapon system or artificial 
intelligence capability that was previously verified under 
paragraph (2)(B) or exempted under any predecessor review 
process under Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 (relating 
to Autonomy in Weapon Systems) that does not currently have a 
valid verification pursuant to paragraph (3), the Secretary 
shall ensure that it undergoes subsequent review and 
verification under such paragraph as if it had not been 
deployed.
``(5) Privacy impact assessments.--(A) For each artificial 
intelligence capability classified under subsection 
(c)(1)(C)(ii), the Secretary ensure that a privacy impact 
assessment is conducted by the Director for Privacy, Civil 
Liberties and Transparency.
``(B) In carrying out a privacy impact assessment under 
subparagraph (A), the Director may consult with such technical 
and policy experts in the Department of Defense or elsewhere in 
the Federal Government as the Director considers appropriate.
``(6) Waiver of updated legal review.--The Under Secretary 
of Defense for Research and Engineering may temporarily waive 
the requirement for an updated legal review under paragraph 
(2)(B)(iii) for longer than one year if the capability is being 
deployed in response to real-world conflict or for compelling 
national interest.
``(d) Exceptions.--The following categories of autonomous weapon 
systems are not subject to the policy set forth in subsection (a) or 
the requirements of subsection (b) and (c):
``(1) Operator-supervised autonomous weapon systems used to 
select and engage materiel targets to intercept attempted time-
critical or saturation attacks.
``(2) Operator-supervised autonomous weapon systems used to 
select and engage materiel targets for defending operationally 
deployed remotely piloted or autonomous vehicles or vessels.
``(3) Autonomous or semi-autonomous cyberspace 
capabilities, reasonably judged to be non-lethal in nature.
``(4) Unarmed platforms, whether remotely operated or 
operated by onboard personnel, and whether autonomous or semi-
autonomous.
``(5) Unguided munitions.
``(6) Munitions manually guided by the operator.
``(7) Mines.
``(8) Unexploded explosive ordnance.
``(9) Autonomous or semi-autonomous systems that are not 
weapon systems.
``(10) Any weapon system--
``(A) that is not continuously monitored by a human 
operator;
``(B) that the Secretary, after completing review 
of the system per subsection (c), has determined to be 
safer and more reliable for the intended use than 
alternative systems that are verified for such use per 
subsection (c) and involve continuous human 
supervision; and
``(C) for which--
``(i) the Secretary has notified the 
congressional defense committees of the 
intended use of the system; and
``(ii) no congressional defense committee 
has objected to during the 30-day period 
beginning on the date on which the notice was 
submitted under clause (i).
``(e) Prohibitions on Certain Uses of Autonomy or Artificial 
Intelligence Capabilities.--Except as may be provided in another 
statute, the Secretary may not use autonomy or an artificial 
intelligence capability for any of the following use cases:
``(1) For the decision to initiate the launch of a nuclear 
weapon.
``(2) For the monitoring, tracking, profiling, or targeting 
of an individual or group of individuals reasonably believed to 
be in the United States, without a warrant obtained based on 
probable cause of a crime with an individualized, articulable 
legal basis, or the collection, querying, or analysis of 
information about the same not otherwise permissible under the 
Constitution of the United States, regardless of the origin of 
the data used, except for activities conducted in accordance 
with applicable provisions of law.
``(3) In the employment of lethal force by autonomous 
weapon systems without incorporation of appropriate levels of 
human judgment.
``(f) Verification, Validation, Testing and Evaluation of 
Autonomous Weapon Systems Leveraging Autonomy or Artificial 
Intelligence Systems.--For each autonomy and artificial intelligence 
system that is covered by the policy set forth in subsection (a), 
regardless of the acquisition pathway or test and evaluation oversight 
status for an autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence 
capability, the Director for Operational Test and Evaluation shall 
ensure the autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence 
capability functions as anticipated in realistic operational 
environments against adaptive adversaries and are sufficiently robust 
to minimize failures, including by ensuring--
``(1) such autonomous weapon system or artificial 
intelligence capability goes through rigorous hardware and 
software verification and validation and realistic system 
developmental and operational test and evaluation, including 
analysis of unanticipated emergent behavior to assess system 
performance, capability, reliability, effectiveness, and 
suitability under realistic conditions, including possible 
adversary actions, consistent with the potential consequences 
of unintended engagement or unauthorized parties interfering 
with the operation of the system or capability;
``(2) hardware and software verification and validation 
include iterative cyber test and evaluation in accordance with 
Department of Defense Instruction 5000.89 (relating to Test and 
Evaluation), or successor instruction, to verify that 
autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability 
is resilient and survivable in contested cyberspace, if 
relevant to the purpose and mission of the system or 
capability;
``(3) systems incorporating autonomy or artificial 
intelligence capabilities go through rigorous developmental and 
operational test and evaluation to verify and validate that 
autonomous weapon system or artificial intelligence capability 
is robust according to design requirements;
``(4) test and evaluation of systems incorporating autonomy 
or artificial intelligence capabilities include testing to 
confirm that their autonomy or artificial intelligence 
algorithms can be rapidly reprogrammed on new input data to 
enable timely correction of any unintended system behaviors 
that may be observed or discovered during future system 
operations;
``(5) adequate training, tactics, techniques, procedures, 
and doctrine are available, periodically reviewed, and used by 
system operators and commanders to understand the functioning, 
capabilities, and limitations of the system's autonomy or 
artificial intelligence in realistic operational conditions;
``(6) system design and human-machine interfaces are 
readily understandable to trained operators, with clear ability 
for trained operators to activate and deactivate system 
functions;
``(7) after initial operational testing and evaluation, as 
directed by the Director, system data is collected and any 
further changes to the system undergo appropriate verification, 
validation, test, and evaluation to ensure that critical safety 
features have not been degraded;
``(8) system software is tested using the best means and 
methods available to the Department to validate that critical 
safety features have not been degraded;
``(9) automated testing tools, such as modeling and 
simulation, are used whenever feasible;
``(10) testing identifies any new operating states and 
other relevant changes in the autonomous weapon system or 
artificial intelligence capability;
``(11) as directed by the Director--
``(A) each new or revised operating state undergoes 
appropriate and tailored additional test and evaluation 
to characterize the system behavior in that new 
operating state; and
``(B) whole system follow-on operational test and 
evaluation when required due to changes to the state 
transition matrix; and
``(12) in coordination with the Under Secretary for 
Research and Engineering and Director, the owning component of 
the Department provides for monitoring to identify and address 
when changes to the system design or operational environment 
require additional testing and evaluation to provide sufficient 
confidence that the system will continue to avoid unintended 
engagements and resist interference by unauthorized parties.
``(g) Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence Systems Working Group.--
``(1) Establishment.--(A) The Secretary shall establish and 
charter a working group for the purposes set forth in paragraph 
(2).
``(B) The working group established under subparagraph (A) 
shall be known as the `Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence 
Working Group'.
``(2) Purposes.--The purposes set forth in this paragraph 
are as follows:
``(A) To support the Under Secretary of Defense for 
Research and Engineering, and the Vice Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff in considering the full range of 
relevant Department interests during the review of 
autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence 
capabilities before formal development.
``(B) To support the Under Secretary of Defense for 
Research and Engineering and the Vice Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff, in considering the full range of 
relevant Department interests during the review of 
autonomous weapon systems before deployment.
``(C) When requested by appropriate representatives 
of the secretaries of the military departments, the 
Commander of United States Special Operations Command, 
or, when applicable, a director of a defense agency or 
a Department of Defense Field Activity--
``(i) to advise whether a given weapon 
system requires senior-level approval in 
accordance with this section; and
``(ii) to help identify and advise on 
addressing potential issues presented by a 
given weapon system during a potential senior-
level review in accordance with this section.
``(D) To develop and issue safety standards for use 
of autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities in 
evaluation of such capabilities.
``(h) Annual Report.--Not later than January 31 of each year until 
January 31, 2037, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional 
defense committees an annual report on the administration of this 
section.
``(i) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `artificial intelligence' has the meaning 
given the term section 5002 of the National Artificial 
Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).
``(2) The term `autonomous weapon systems' means a weapon 
system that, once activated, can select and engage targets 
without further intervention by an operator. Such term includes 
operator-supervised autonomous weapon systems that are designed 
to allow operators to override operation of the weapon system 
but can select and engage targets without further operator 
input after activation.
``(3) The term `autonomy' means a capability (or set of 
capabilities) that enables a particular action of a system to 
be automatic or, within specified boundaries self-governing 
with minimal human oversight.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 345 of 
title 10, United States Code is amended by inserting after the item 
related to section 4576 the following new item:

``4577. Autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence 
capabilities acquisition; planning and 
oversight processes.''.
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