China could build an army of soldiers as hard to kill as Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s Terminator, an official US study has warned.
The US National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) predicts China could produce legions of “genetically enhanced PLA super-soldiers” which would fuse human and artificial intelligence, making them next to impossible to destroy. The “human machine team” could be ready as early as the 2040s. The idea was the brainchild of a rogue Chinese scientist who created genetically modified babies and was jailed – but is now back at work, as the report warns the time to act is now.
A new report by the The Charting the Future of Biotechnology document says: “At the outset of the First World War, the United States did not yet fully appreciate how airplanes would rapidly change the nature of war.
“But once we understood the significance of aviation for force projection, reconnaissance, logistical support, and beyond, we dominated the skies. Similarly, the full impact of the biotechnology revolution will not be clear until it arrives.
“One thing is certain: it is coming. There will be a ChatGPT moment for biotechnology, and if China gets there first, no matter how fast we run, we will never catch up.
“Our window to act is closing. We need a two-track strategy: make America innovate faster, and slow China down. The Commission has every reason to believe the CCP will weaponise biotechnology.”
Concerningly, it added: “Drone warfare will seem quaint.”
Established by Congress in 2022, NSCEB is tasked with examining the intersection of biotechnology and national security, assessing the implications of biotechnology advances, and recommending strategies to ensure US leadership and security in this critical field.
Earlier this year it was reported a fleet of 100,000 humanoid robots are set to be shipped out over the next four years by a boundary-breaking artificial intelligence company – meaning people’s co-workers could be made of metal.
A year ago, Figure AI signed with car manufacturer BMW and now has a “fleet of robots performing end-to-end operations”. Figure’s CEO Brett Adcock announced on LinkedIn last month that the company had now signed another client, which was “one of the biggest US companies” and would give Figure the potential to ship the humanoids at high volumes.
Figure, founded by Adcock in 2022, aims to deploy autonomous humanoid workers to support humans on a global scale. Its humanoid robot, called Figure 02, is AI-powered and self-reliant, and is described as being “ready to produce an abundance of affordable, more widely available goods and services to a degree which humanity has never seen”.
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