Google is ending its involvement with Project Maven, the controversial Pentagon research program that sought to improve object recognition in military drones with artificial intelligence. Diane Greene, head of Google Cloud, told employees during a Friday meeting that the company will let its current contract with the Defense Department lapse in 2019 and that it will not pursue a new one, according to the New York Times and Gizmodo. The announcement comes shortly after Google said it would draft an ethics policy to guide its involvement in future military projects — one that would explicitly ban the use of artificial intelligence in weaponry.
Since news of Google’s involvement became public in March, more than 4,000 employees have signed an open letter urging the company to reconsider, and dozens have resigned in protest. AI researchers and executives at London-based Google subsidiary DeepMind, meanwhile, have distanced themselves from the program, citing a 2014 acquisition agreement between the companies that precludes Google from using DeepMind technology in surveillance and military systems.
http://ow.ly/l1Vo50hwyGy
Interesting. Unlikely to slow the acquisition of such technologies much over a longer time-frame. The incentives are too large.
ReplyDelete"ok Google, remind me to put a bid in for Project Maven in 2019"
ReplyDelete