The West Point manual
Artificial Intelligence
Recognizing that artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly found its way onto modern battlefields, the Lieber Institute for Law and Warfare has launched a comprehensive research project aimed at providing a clear understanding of how international law applies to AI and AI-enabled military operations today. The culmination of the project, led by Professors Michael Schmitt and Sean Watts with Klaudia Klonowska as its Managing Director, will be the publication of The West Point Manual on the International Law Applicable to Artificial Intelligence in Warfare. As States continue to integrate AI into their military strategies, the West Point Manual will provide commanders, legal advisors, and other relevant stakeholders with a reliable practitioners’ guide informed by real-world military legal experience to help them navigate the complex legal frameworks governing the development, fielding, and use of the technology on the battlefield. Currently projected to extend into 2027, the project will involve collaboration with global experts and consultations with State representatives to ensure the West Point Manual’s relevance and utility to its intended end users.
Direct Project Inquires Here: AI Manual Project
Photo: Cadets receiving a gun lesson on the Plain serve as a reminder of the timeless link between the United States Military Academy and warfighting technologies.
Our Partners
News and Events:
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- The West Point Manual welcomes the United States Air Force Academy’s Law, Technology & Warfare Research Cell as a project partner.
- On 12-13 October 2025, the Army Cyber Institute together with the Netherlands Defense Academy organized a workshop supporting the drafting of the Manual section on the legal obligations pertaining to AI-enabled cyber operations.
- The Annual Lieber Workshop 2025 saw an in-depth discussion on the impact of AI systems on legal interoperability in multinational operations, spanning a wide variety of legal frameworks, and contributing to the Manual efforts.
- The Naval War College organized a weeks-long drafting workshop between 29 September and 3 October 2025, which addressed the role that maritime law can play in regulating the design, development, and use of AI-enabled systems. The workshop hosted legal and technical experts whose collaboration led to the development of a substantive contribution to the Manual.
- On 29-30 September 2025, the Brigham Young University hosted the workshop titled “Artificial Intelligence and Non-Attack Operations under International Law” which gathered legal and technical experts to discuss how these less commonly-discussed areas of the law are affected by emerging AI capabilities. The workshop contributes to the drafting of the Manual.
- On 15-17 September 2025, Professor Schmitt and members of the drafting team participated in the American University’s conference in a panel on AI-enabled operations and international law.
- On 26 June, 2025, project members participated in the GC REAIM Symposium organized by the Hague Center for Strategic Studies in the Hague, Netherlands.
- Over 9-10 June, 2025, the Army Cyber Institute, a project partner, conducted a workshop titled AI on the Battlefield”.
- The West Point Manual welcomes the National University of Singapore as project partner.
- On May 15, 2025, the Strauss Center, one of the project partners, organized a workshop with AI industry firms.
- Over May 13-14, 2025, project members addressed emerging issues on the use of AI under international law at the Annual Conference organized by the Army Futures Command at the University of Texas.
- The West Point Manual welcomes the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government as project partner.
- On March 28, 2025, the West Point Manual was first officially presented at the UNIDIR RAISE Conference at the United Nations in Geneva.
- On March 19, 2025, University of Reading and the U.S. Naval War College – both project partners – hosted a workshop focusing on the various aspects of international law affected by Artificial Intelligence.
- The drafting team expands, as the West Point Manual project welcome the Netherlands Defense Academy to our list of partners.
- Over January 23–25, 2025, the Stockton Center for International Law, one of our partner institutions, hosted a workshop in Copenhagen, Denmark focusing on the international legal issues pertaining to AI-enabled military operations within the maritime domain.
- Drafting began on January 15, 2025, with an inaugural meeting between the directors and drafters.
