March 02, 2023
U.S. and China Can Show World Leadership by Safeguarding Military AI
The recent balloon incident highlights the fragility of US-China relations and the risk of accidents and miscalculation. While balloons are a 200-year-old technology, the United States and China are developing new technologies that come with new risks. Chief among these is artificial intelligence (AI), which has many military applications but also can lead to accidents or humans overtrusting in machines.
The US and China must move beyond unilateral statements and begin developing shared confidence-building measures to manage the risks of military AI competition.
The hasty deployment by Microsoft and Google of chatbots like ChatGPT demonstrates the risks of moving too quickly with an unproven technology. Competitive pressures in the private sector have led tech companies to race ahead to field AI systems that are not safe. Nations must avoid similar temptations with military AI.
Read the full article from South China Morning Post.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
CNAS Insights | Setting the Rules for AI WarfareThe escalating feud between the Pentagon and Anthropic, one of world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies, highlights a crucial question that will shape security i...
By Paul Scharre
-
Video
Technology & National Security
The Pentagon and Anthropic - NBC’s Meet the Press NowPresident Trump is in Texas speaking about the economy ahead of the state’s high-stakes primary. Retired Lt. Gen. John “Jack” Shanahan, CNAS adjunct senior fellow and former d...
By Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
Fighting AI Cyberattacks Starts with Knowing They’re HappeningThis article was originally published in Lawfare. Anthropic reported in November 2025 that Chinese threat actors used its Claude model to launch widespread cyberattacks on com...
By Janet Egan & Michelle Nie
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
The Sovereignty Gap in U.S. AI StatecraftThis article was originally published in Lawfare. As the India AI Impact Summit kicks off this week, the Trump administration has embraced the language of “sovereign AI.” Thro...
By Pablo Chavez
