Opposition to autonomous warfare swells to 16,000 signatories

Artificial intelligence community comes together in unprecedented numbers to call for a ban on AI-controlled weaponry

An open letter from AI researchers urging a ban on offensive autonomous weapons has now reached 16,000 signatories, after being signed by more than 15,000 people in the three days since it was released.

The letter says "AI technology has reached a point where the deployment of [autonomous weapons] is - practically if not legally - feasible within years" and was initially signed by Tesla's Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Google DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis and professor Stephen Hawking. It has now been signed by over 2,000 experts, as well as another 14,000 individuals from outside the AI community.