Consensus in Geneva: Dutch chair hails breakthrough on 'killer robots' as 128 states agree roadmap for global rules

The Netherlands has welcomed what it describes as a significant breakthrough in international efforts to regulate autonomous weapons systems, after 128 countries reached consensus on a document that could pave the way for future global rules on so-called “killer robots”. The agreement, reached overnight in Geneva under the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), is non-binding and falls short of a formal treaty. Yet diplomats and arms control experts view it as the most substantial progress in more than a decade of negotiations over weapons capable of selecting and engaging targets with varying degrees of autonomy. Read on for the full story.