Media reports: Israeli AI killed Iranian nuclear scientist

On 27 November 2020, Israeli intelligence services killed the leading Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh with a remote-controlled machine gun and artificial intelligence. The New York Times reports.

According to media reports, Israeli intelligence services mounted an autonomous machine gun on a pickup by the roadside along the scientist’s route, not far from Tehran. When Fakhrizadeh’s vehicle approached, a remote operator fired the weapon via satellite link. Operators used artificial intelligence to compensate for signal delay and recoil.

The autonomous weapon fired 15 rounds in under a minute, killing the target. Fakhrizadeh’s wife, who was a few metres away from the scientist, was not harmed. Iranian investigators believe the operatives used facial recognition technology to accurately identify the target.

No government has publicly confirmed the use of robotic weapons. According to sources, Iranian investigators determined the nature of the attack by accident: in an attempt to destroy evidence, Israeli forces blew up a truck, but the equipment remained undamaged. This allowed Iran to establish details of the Israeli operation.

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was known as the ‘father of the Iranian bomb’.

In July, the Israeli army deployed an AI-guided drone swarm in real combat conditions.

In late May, Israeli forces said that they used AI and supercomputers in an 11-day conflict in the Gaza Strip.

In 2020, the UN recorded the first-ever case of a combat drone attacking a person without a direct order from an operator.

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