US national lab uses AI to help find illegal nuclear weapons • The Register

Researchers at America's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are developing machine learning techniques to help the Feds crack down on potentially rogue nuclear weapons. Suffice to say, it's generally illegal for any individual or group to own a nuclear weapon, certainly in the United States. Yes, there are the five officially recognized nuclear-armed nations – France, Russia, China, the UK, and the US – whose governments have a stash of these devices. And there are countries that have signed the United Nations' Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, meaning they've promised not to "develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use" these gadgets. So if anyone has a nuke in their possession, it's because they are a country in the official nuclear-armed club, they are a government that's produced its own nukes, a terrorist who stole, bought, or somehow built one themselves, or some other sketchy scenario, in America's eyes at least.