We are witnessing a surge in military spending worldwide. More and more states are prioritising and investing in the development and purchase of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to be used in warfare. These technologies are not only used by militaries but also in policing, border control, and other forms of state violence. The investments in these technologies do not only divert much needed resources from institutions promoting socio-economic justice but also contribute to fuelling conflicts and human rights violations worldwide.  

An AI arms race 

“Every kill chain starts with the money.” This statement was heard in an AI Conference in Washington, DC last year, in which participants argued that the United States (US) government should direct more funds into AI and other emerging military technologies. A year later, the US approved a one trillion USD military budget, which includes 13.4 billion USD just for AI systems. The US also announced plans to spend 28 billion USD on a programme to deploy autonomous fighter drones by 2029, in addition to many more millions dedicated to the development of land and maritime autonomous systems.  

The US is not alone in pouring large sums of money into AI-powered military technologies. France plans to invest 2 billion EUR in military AI by 2030. The United Kingdom (UK) is spending 4 billion GBP in autonomous systems. China, Germany, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and many other states, are also investing in military AI technologies and/or autonomous weapon systems.  

Supporters of these expenditures argue that they are needed for security and to counter other states that are making the same investments. The US, for example, argues that it needs to defend itself from China. Meanwhile, China and Russia point to US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military spending to justify their own. Several other countries justify their investments under the fear that they would fall behind on what is being called by some technologists as another “Oppenheimer moment”. It is very clear that an AI arms race is already in place. 

An arms race is harmful for several reasons: it diverts resources from other areas, like education, health, and ecological regeneration; it increases militarisation, fuels conflicts, and results in death and destruction worldwide. However, what is evidently harmful to the people and the planet ends up being extremely profitable for actors of the military-industrial complex. With the surge in military spending, the arms and tech industries are absurdly increasing their profits. Tech companies like Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Open AI, and Scale AI have all signed multimillion dollar contracts with militaries. Military tech companies like Palantir and Anduril have also increased their profits selling technologies to India, Israel, US, among others. Traditional arms companies, including Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and BAE Systems, have also embarked on the AI hype to continue profiting from war.   

Tools of Domination and Control

In addition to the diversion of funds being spent on the development and purchase of AI-powered systems and weapons, there are several other concerns associated with these technologies. Experts have been warning that consumer tech may not be secure enough for military uses. AI can sometimes “hallucinate,” which means that they assert patterns that do not exist or produce nonsense. When applied to military technologies, this means that they may recommend the wrong targets. AI also contains several biases. This may cause “AI systems to single out, for example, members of distinct ethnic groups as targets, or even consider all civilian males as combatants due to encoded gender biases,” as warned by Jimena Sofía Viveros Álvarez, member of the UNSG High-Level Advisory Body on AI. Not to mention all the privacy-related concerns associated with the training and use of AI, the precarisation of labour to train these systems, or the environmental cost of developing them. 

Despite all of this, AI is being adopted by militaries and law enforcement worldwide. US authorities are using automated AI-powered surveillance tools to deliberately target non-US citizens, posing risks to those who speak out for Palestinian rights. China has already established a surveillance state, while Russia is in the process of doing the same. The European Union is deploying AI-driven technologies along its borders in an attempt to control migration flows, raising legal and ethical concerns about the impact on migrants’ rights. India has been using facial recognition, which poses particular risk for minority communities, while Pakistan is expanding its mass surveillance and censorship apparatus. There are reports of police abuse using AI technology in Brazil, the UK, Denmark, Mexico, among many other countries. 

In addition to being used in surveillance of populations, censorship, predictive policing, and the monitoring and tracking of migrants, AI is also being used to kill. An investigation by the news outlet +972 Magazine revealed the use of AI decision support systems by the Israeli military in the targeting of Palestinians since October 2023. “Thousands of Palestinians—most of them women and children or people who were not involved in the fighting—were wiped out by Israeli air strikes, especially during the first weeks of the war, because of the AI program’s decisions,” affirmed the outlet.   

These examples make clear that AI is being used as a tool of domination and control. This is particularly concerning considering the rise of fascism worldwide. It was not by chance that the CEOs of several tech companies donated money to the campaign of the now US President Donald Trump, and were present at his inauguration. AI has a big role to play in the restriction of fundamental freedoms necessary for the establishment of fascist regimes, not just in the US, but also worldwide.   

A Feminist Take on Emerging Technologies

Anti-militarist feminists have long argued that the profits from war are an impediment to peace. This continues to be true in current days, not only because of the increasing amount of resources being poured into AI, but also because of the influence and power held by tech companies and their CEOs. A feminist, anti-militarist, and anti-capitalist perspective on these technologies requires us to question who wins from their development, as well as who loses. Karen Hao, author of “Empire of AI,” echoes a comment made by Ria Kalluri, an AI researcher at Stanford, who during a Queer in AI workshop argued that instead of calling for AI to benefit humanity—a term which will always “be in the eye of the beholder”—we should ask ourselves how AI shifts power. “Does it consolidate or redistributes that power?” she asked, complemented by Hao, who suggested that we also ask, “How do we govern this technology to shift power back to people?” 

Militaries and law enforcement officials are not using AI to keep people safe, as they claim, but instead to enable state violence. CEOs of tech and arms companies are not developing AI for any other reason beyond maximising profits. Governments are not seeking AI to strengthen democracies; rather, AI is consolidating autocracies in the US, Russia, China, and elsewhere. The continuous investment in AI will lead to even further concentration of power and wealth. 

Thus, it is crucial that we call out the profits gained through the exploitation of people and the planet for the development of AI, and the consequent risk for democracy and the overall wellbeing of populations. In WILPF’s campaign Move the Money, we call for a feminist political economy that ends oppression, transforms systems, and empowers people. Join us in emphasising that military spending is a political choice, and in calling out governments and international institutions to move resources away from militarisation, including AI systems and weapons!