A chilling new report from the United Nations (UN) is sounding the alarm over a dangerous frontier in terrorism.
The organization warns that driverless vehicles could be hijacked by terrorists and turned into “slaughterbots.”
The UN report is titled “Algorithms and Terrorism: The Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence for Terrorist Purposes.”
According to the report, AI-powered cars, drones, and robotics could soon be weaponized by extremist groups to carry out mass-casualty attacks from a distance.
The use of autonomous vehicles would mean no human operatives required on-site.
Terrorists could launch the attacks without even being in the same country, the UN warns.
The warning comes as global reliance on artificial intelligence grows.
It raises new questions about national security and the wisdom of unleashing complex, self-operating technologies into everyday life without sufficient oversight.
“Vehicles, particularly cars, vans, and trucks, have long been used in terrorist attacks,” the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism noted.
“Increased autonomy in cars could well be an amenable development for terrorist groups, allowing them to effectively carry out one of their most traditional types of attacks remotely.”
The report warns that driverless vehicles, once heralded as the future of transportation, could become remote-controlled bombs on wheels.
They could then be used to target civilians, infrastructure, or public events—all while terrorists remain far from the scene.
Security officials are taking notice.
Dr. William Allchorn, a senior research fellow at the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute, told UK outlet The Times that the risk of coordinated attacks using hijacked or custom-built autonomous vehicles is “moderate to high” within the next five to ten years.
“This should be on the radar of all national security services and practitioners in the UK,” he said.
Allchorn added that the threat is limited today but rapidly increasing as technology spreads.
The UN report urges governments and tech companies to treat the issue with seriousness and speed, calling for new safeguards, regulatory measures, and coordinated international action.
“This publication should serve as an early warning… to ensure new technologies are used to bring good and not harm,” the report states.
The warning comes amid growing bipartisan concern in the U.S. over AI’s darker possibilities, including deepfakes, automated warfare, and AI-generated cyberattacks.
Federal agencies have been accused of being slow to respond to the weaponization of emerging tech.
Some are calling for Congress to act before the U.S. finds itself caught off guard.
With AI accelerating at breakneck speed, the question isn’t just what autonomous technology can do, but what bad actors might do with it when no one’s looking.
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