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Andrew Ng , the father and former leader of Google Brain , suffer Google ’s recent decision todrop its assurance not to build AI systems for weapons .
“ I ’m very beaming that Google has change its stance , ” Ng said during an onstage interview Thursday evening with TechCrunch at the Military Veteran Startup Conference in San Francisco .
originally this calendar week , Google edit a 7 - twelvemonth - old toast from its AI principles web page , which assure the caller would not contrive AI for weapons or surveillance . Alongside the excision , Google published ablog postpenned by DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis , who noted companies and governments should work together to establish AI that “ support national security . ”
Googlemade its AI weapon system pledge in 2018following the Project Maven protests , in which thousands of employee protested the company ’s contract with the U.S. military . The protestors specifically took consequence with Google supplying AI for a military program that helped interpret television images and could be used to improve the truth of drone strikes .
Ng , however , was thwart by the Project Maven protestors , he told an audience for the most part made up of warhorse .
“ Frankly , when the Project Maven thing went down … A lot of you are going out , willing to molt blood for our country to protect us all , ” said Ng . “ So how the heck can an American company refuse to help our own overhaul the great unwashed that are out there , fighting for us ? ”
Ng did not run at Google when the Project Maven dissent fall out , but he did bring a key role in shaping Google ’s efforts around AI and neuronal networks . Today , Ng lead an AI - center speculation studio apartment call AI Fund , and he speaks out oft about AI policy .
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Ng afterward said he was grateful that two AI regulatory exertion — the vetoed California SB 1047 bill and Biden ’s countermand AI executive order — were no longer in play . He had repeatedly contend that both measures would slow down undecided source AI development in America .
The actual cay to American AI safety , Ng argued , is to ensure America can contend with China technologically . He noted that AI drone would “ completely inspire the battlefield . ”
He ’s not the only former Google administrator who has propagate that message . Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt now spends his dayslobbying Washington , D.C. , to purchase AI dronesto compete with China ; his companionship , White Stork , may eventually issue those dawdler .
While Ng and Schmidt seem to substantiate the military ’s usage of AI , the topic has cleave the ranks within Google for year .
Meredith Whittaker , now the president of Signal , led the Maven protests in 2018 while working at Google as an AI researcher . When Google made the pledge to not renew its Project Maven contracts , Whittaker enunciate she was happy about the determination , noting the party “ should not be in the byplay of war . ”
She ’s not the only Googler who ’s dissented . Former Google AI researcher and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton previouslycalled for worldwide governments to nix and regulate the use of AI in weapons . Another longtime and idolise Google administrator , Jeff Dean — now the main scientist of DeepMind — previouslysigned a alphabetic character opposing the function of simple machine learning in self-reliant weapons .
In recent years , Google and Amazon light under renew examination for their military piece of work , including theirProject Nimbus contracts with the Israeli governance . Employees of both cloud provider staged sit - ins last year to protest Project Nimbus , under which Google and Amazon reportedly allow for cloud work out service to the Israel Defense Forces .
ThePentagon and militaries around the globe have a renew appetency to utilise AI , the Department of Defense ’s chief AI policeman antecedently distinguish TechCrunch . As Google , Amazon , Microsoft , and other tech heavyweight invest hundreds of gazillion of dollars in AI infrastructure , many are calculate to recoup that investment funds through military partnerships .
