Responsible Artificial Intelligence Defense Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Senator Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced
Summary
Human oversight of military AI would be required across development, testing, and use so the Defense Department can employ autonomy while keeping people in control. The bill would set verification steps, safety and cybersecurity rules, monitoring, and limits on certain uses.
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- Service members and operators: Designs must let humans detect and stop unintended or illegal behavior and must include a way to disengage systems. Verifications remain valid for 3 years and systems must be supported by training, doctrine, and clear human-machine interfaces.
- Legal and privacy limits: The bill would ban AI-driven initiation of a nuclear launch decision and bar monitoring, tracking, profiling, or targeting U.S. persons without a probable-cause warrant. Level 2 AI that handles Privacy Act protected data requires privacy impact assessments.
- Acquisition, testing, and oversight: The Under Secretary for Research and Engineering must verify systems before prototyping and before fielding and the Director for Operational Test and Evaluation must oversee rigorous testing and revalidation. An Autonomy and AI Working Group would advise, annual reports are required through 2037, and some exemptions can be notified to congressional defense committees with a 30 day objection window.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
New DoD AI oversight and testing
This bill would require the Department of Defense to adopt a department-wide AI and autonomy policy. It would require pre-development and pre-fielding verification by the Under Secretary for Research and Engineering. Verifications would last three years and substantially similar variants would stay verified for that period. A test office would run realistic hardware and software tests, and a new working group would advise on reviews and safety standards. Definitions for key terms like "artificial intelligence" and "autonomy" would guide how the rules apply.
No AI for nuclear or lethal strikes
This bill would prohibit using autonomy or AI to decide to launch a nuclear weapon, unless another statute allows it. It would also prohibit employing lethal force with an autonomous weapon unless appropriate levels of human judgment are included. These limits would start if the bill is enacted and would restrict how autonomy is used in the most dangerous roles.
Limits on domestic AI surveillance
This bill would bar using autonomy or AI to monitor, track, profile, or target people in the United States without a warrant based on probable cause. It would also bar collecting or analyzing information about such persons that the Constitution does not allow, except as permitted by law. For higher-risk AI (Level 2), the bill would require a privacy impact assessment by the Director for Privacy, Civil Liberties, and Transparency. The Director could consult technical and policy experts when doing the assessment.
Exemptions for certain weapon systems
This bill would list several categories of systems that are not subject to the new verification and review rules. Exemptions would include operator-supervised interceptors, defenses for deployed drones or vessels, unarmed platforms, unguided and manually guided munitions, mines, and non-weapon systems. For any weapon not continuously monitored by a human, the Secretary would have to find it safer than verified alternatives, notify congressional defense committees, and allow a 30-day objection period.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
DE • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI]
RI • D
Sponsored 6/8/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov