The NewsWorthy Special Edition: AI in War – Who Sets the Rules?
Mar 7, 2026
Paul Scharre, former defense official and author who studies AI and autonomous weapons, breaks down how AI is reshaping warfare. He discusses the Pentagon-Anthropic standoff, risks of autonomous systems, expanded domestic surveillance, and the geopolitics of chips and Taiwan. Short, urgent takes on human control, supply-chain labeling, and how the public can help shape the rules of war.
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Current US Policy Leaves Autonomous Weapons Unresolved
- The Pentagon says it won't use AI for domestic mass surveillance and currently avoids fully autonomous lethal weapons.
- Laws bar domestic military surveillance, but no U.S. or international law yet bans lethal autonomous weapons, making them a future issue.
Fear Of Error Versus Fear Of Falling Behind
- Two forces drive military AI adoption: fear of AI mistakes in life-and-death contexts and fear of falling behind adversaries like China.
- Paul Scharre warns mistakes could worsen outcomes, while militaries worry competitors will exploit widely available AI.
AI Makes New Forms Of Mass Surveillance Feasible
- AI enables governments to process vast amounts of data, raising new techno‑authoritarian surveillance risks.
- Scharre cites China's deployment of AI surveillance as a model the U.S. should avoid importing.
