1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 (relating to Autonomy in Weapons Systems), dated November 21, 2012, defines autonomous weapons system as a weapons system that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by an operator. (2) Article 3, clause 8 of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which may be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, signed at Geneva October 10, 1980 (commonly known as the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons ) prohibits the indiscriminate use of weapons, which is defined in the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons as any placement of such weapons…which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated . (3) Section 5.10 of the Department of Defense Law of War Manual states that [c]ommanders, at all levels, have a great responsibility to exercise the leadership necessary to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and civilian objects . (4) In a report on autonomous weapons systems published on December 1, 2021, Human Rights Watch and the International Human Rights Clinic of Harvard Law School argue that [r]obots lack the compassion, empathy, mercy, and judgment necessary to treat humans humanely, and they cannot understand the inherent worth of human life . (5) The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review states [i]n all cases, the United States will maintain a human in the loop for all actions critical to informing and executing decisions by the President to initiate and terminate nuclear weapon employment . (6) The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence recommends that the United States clearly and publicly affirm existing