Ottawa’s Killer Robot Problem

Ottawa’s Killer Robot Problem

From CANADALAND by CANADALAND

June 9, 2026 · 36 min · Episode 1379

About this episode

The episode explores Canada's stance on autonomous weapons and the implications of AI in military decision-making.

Host Sam spent a day at Canada's biggest defence trade show asking about autonomous weapons. The good news: Canada says humans must always be part of the decision to kill. The bad news: nobody can define what that means, the US just voted against a UN resolution banning killer robots, and Pete Hegseth wants the Pentagon to be an "AI-first warfighting force." Sam talks to an AI researcher, an underwater robot CEO, a defence contractor who tells it like it is, and an ethicist who somehow remains hopeful.  Have a tip? sam@canadaland.com Host: Noor Azrieh Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Host/Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork) Guests: Jason Millar, Randy Goebel Background reading: For Canada, the march of the killer robots is getting hard to avoid | The Logic Judge temporarily blocks Pentagon's blacklist of AI company Anthropic | CBC News At Canada’s biggest weapons show, the soldiers were the target | Globe and Mail Canada’s largest arms expo drawing record turnout as Ottawa boosts defence spending Go to Canadaland.com/live…

People in this episode

Host: Sam

Guests: Jason Millar, Randy Goebel

Topics covered

  • autonomous weapons
  • defense trade
  • AI ethics
  • military technology
  • Canada's defense policy

Keywords

  • killer robots
  • autonomous weapons
  • defense trade show
  • AI ethics
  • Canada
  • military technology

Sponsors

Douglas

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CANADALAND, UN, Pentagon, CBC News, Globe and Mail

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