A Russian drone resembling a model airplane crashed into a gas station wall in Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine last month, killing 19-year-old university student Tetiana Bubynets and two others. The drone was guided by an experimental artificial intelligence system, not a human pilot, according to Ukrainian military commanders and forensic experts. Programmed by human operators to travel toward a particular gas station, it chose its exact target—most likely propane tanks—on its own based on training to recognize such tanks and strike them.

Analysis of debris revealed onboard minicomputers sold commercially by Nvidia that made targeting decisions. The presence of Nvidia modules and lack of antennas led Ukrainian air defense commanders to surmise autonomous AI guidance, confirmed on further investigation. Self-targeting drones use cameras to hunt for targets with greater precision than human pilots.