Autonomous Killer Drone Arrives

 

Illustration: Rae Cook/Axios

  

A drone that can select and engage targets on its own is reported to have attacked soldiers during a civil conflict in Libya, Bryan Walsh writes in Axios Future. 

Why it matters: If confirmed, it would likely represent the first known case of a machine-learning-based autonomous weapon being used to kill — potentially heralding a dangerous new era in warfare.

The UN Panel of Experts on Libya said in a recent report that a Turkish-made STM Kargu-2 drone may have "hunted down and ... engaged" retreating soldiers fighting with Libyan Gen. Khalifa Haftar last year.

It's not clear whether any soldiers were killed in the attack, although the UN experts — who call the drone a "lethal autonomous weapons system" — imply they likely were.