Specialists say the pace of innovation has outstripped traditional safeguards. Autonomous drones capable of identifying and striking targets without human intervention are already in advanced testing, while new cyber weapons are being designed to paralyse power grids and military communications in a single breach. Even more disturbing, researchers point to early-stage work on AI-enabled biological agents engineered to attack individuals based on genetic traits.
The growing distrust between nations has been amplified by high-level diplomatic encounters. During the Putin–Trump meeting in Alaska last year, Russian security personnel reportedly carried a specialised container to collect the president’s biological waste — a precaution meant to prevent foreign agencies from analysing his health data. Similar measures have been observed around China’s Xi Jinping, whose aides routinely sterilise surfaces he touches during overseas visits.
Defence analysts say these protocols reflect a deeper anxiety about the misuse of biological intelligence in an era when AI can generate sensitive insights within minutes. A recent case at MIT, where students used AI tools to outline designs for four pandemic-scale viruses in under an hour, further heightened concerns among scientific regulators.
The United States continues to lead in military AI integration, with its Project Maven system now embedded in command centres across multiple conflict zones. Yet China and Russia are closing the gap, pushing the global arms race into a more volatile phase.
Amid these developments, India has urged world leaders to adopt a global framework for responsible AI use. At the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for human-centric guardrails to prevent the technology from being weaponised against society itself.
