Skip to content
Govbase
Govbase
Congress·In Committee·S. 4113

Sen. Slotkin Introduces AI Guardrails Act to Limit Military Use of Artificial Intelligence

AI Guardrails Act of 2026

8 days ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Legislative Progress

Senate
House
President
Law

Key Points

  • The bill bans the Department of Defense from using AI to launch or detonate nuclear weapons, ensuring humans — not machines — make the final call on the world's most destructive arsenal.

    From policy text

    “The Department of Defense is prohibited from using artificial intelligence as follows: (1) For the execution of launching or detonating a nuclear weapon.”
    View in full text
  • The military would be forbidden from using AI to monitor, track, profile, or target people in the U.S. without a specific legal justification. Activities protected by the First Amendment and other constitutional rights are explicitly shielded from AI surveillance.

    From policy text

    “For the monitoring, tracking, profiling, or targeting of individuals or groups in the United States, without an individualized, articulable legal basis, regardless of the origin of the data used.”
    View in full text
  • Autonomous weapons that use lethal force must involve "appropriate levels of human judgment and supervision," keeping a person in the loop for life-or-death decisions made on the battlefield.

    From policy text

    “In the employment of lethal force by autonomous weapon systems without appropriate levels of human judgment and supervision.”
    View in full text
  • The Secretary of Defense can waive the autonomous weapons restriction for up to one year during extraordinary national security circumstances, but only if the AI system's error rate doesn't exceed that of trained human operators doing the same job. Congress must be notified within 5 days with a detailed certification.

    From policy text

    “The Secretary of Defense, without delegation, may waive the prohibitions under subsection (b)(3) with respect to a system for up to one year, or renew such a waiver for up to one year, if the Secretary certifies, in writing, to the congressional defense committees that extraordinary circumstances affecting the national security of the United States require the waiver”
    View in full text
  • The bill affirms Congress's view that the U.S. must "aggressively adopt" AI in its armed forces to maintain military dominance, while balancing that urgency with security and reliability requirements.

    From policy text

    “It is the sense of Congress that, consistent with America's AI Action Plan dated July 2025, the United States must aggressively adopt artificial intelligence (AI) within its Armed Forces if it is to maintain its global military preeminence while also ensuring that the Department of Defense's use of AI is secure and reliable.”
    View in full text
National Security Foreign PolicyTechnology DigitalCivil Rights

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Mar 17, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Mar 17, 2026

Introduced in Senate

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

Upon enactment

If enacted, DoD would need to immediately stop using AI for nuclear launch execution and begin reviewing all AI surveillance programs targeting people in the U.S.

The military would need to audit existing AI systems and ensure compliance with the new prohibitions, potentially halting or modifying programs already in development.

6-12 months after enactment

DoD develops internal compliance procedures, waiver application process, and testing standards for autonomous weapon systems

Military AI programs involving lethal autonomous weapons would need to demonstrate their error rates are no worse than human operators before seeking waivers, creating a new testing and certification pipeline.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

AI Guardrails Act of 2026

Bill NumberS 4113
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.