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A group of robotics companies including Boston Dynamics have signed an open letter promising never to weaponize their robots—while calling on their peers to do the same.
The plea was published on Thursday and signed by six robotics companies: Boston Dynamics, Agility Robotics, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics, and Unitree. The group lays out the case that general-purpose robots “offer the possibility of misuse” and that the industry should be concerned with bad actors weaponizing the machines.
“We believe that adding weapons to robots that are remotely or autonomously operated, widely available to the public, and capable of navigating to previously inaccessible locations where people live and work, raises new risks of harm and serious ethical issues,” the letter reads. “Weaponized applications of these newly-capable robots will also harm public trust in the technology in ways that damage the tremendous benefits they will bring to society.”
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