The News
The Chinese and US militaries are experimenting with robot “dogs” to work alongside infantry.
A state-run Chinese news agency released footage of a quadrupedal robot armed with an assault rifle being used in urban-combat training scenarios.
Earlier videos showed similar dogbots being dropped from drones or launching smoke grenades and other munitions: Chinese researchers claimed one has marksmanship as good as top human sharpshooters.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has also outfitted experimental robots with rifles and anti-tank weapons.
Semi-autonomous dogs are already used in base security and other non-combat applications, but “robotics companies have had an eye on weaponization” for some time, WIRED reported.
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