SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Earlier this month, tech giant Google made waves when it updated its artificial intelligence principles and didn’t include a previous commitment not to use the technology for weapons or surveillance. This week, the U.S. also surprised some when it didn’t sign an international agreement regarding AI.
This Tuesday, the BBC reported that both the U.S. and the U.K. decided not to sign an international agreement pledging for an approach to AI that is open, inclusive and ethical. Information about the pledge can be found here.
“U.S. Vice President JD Vance told delegates in Paris that too much regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) could ‘kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off,’” said the BBC. In a Tuesday X post, Vance said he was “pushing President Trump’s agenda when it comes to technology and artificial intelligence,” while in Paris.
A Wayback Machine archived page cited by The Hill shows that Google’s principles used to outline four things its AI applications would “not pursue,” including weapons and surveillance:
· “Technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm. Where there is a material risk of harm, we will proceed only where we believe that the benefits substantially outweigh the risks, and will incorporate appropriate safety constraints.”
· “Weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people.”
· “Technologies that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms.”
· “Technologies whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”
The Hill said that this pledge was eliminated in the update from earlier this month and that it was no longer on Google’s AI principles page as of Feb. 5. The outlet reached out to Google for comment.
James Manyika SVP of research, labs, technology & society for Google, and Demis Hassabi, CEO and co-founder of Google DeepMind said in a blog post about the updates that “being bold on AI also means being responsible from the start,” and that the company’s “approach to AI has been consistently grounded in understanding and accounting for its broad implications for people.”
Their post noted that Google was among the first organizations to publish AI principles in 2018 and that it has published an annual transparency report since 2019. Additionally, it said that the company continues to invest in AI safety and identification of potential risks as the technology develops.
“As AI development progresses, new capabilities may present new risks,” said the post. “That’s why we introduced the first iteration of our Frontier Safety Framework last year: a set of protocols to help us stay ahead of possible risks from powerful frontier AI models. Since then, we’ve collaborated with experts in industry, academia and government to deepen our understanding of the risks, the empirical evaluations to test for them, and the mitigations we can apply.”
Google’s “update came after United States President Donald Trump revoked former President Joe Biden’s executive order aimed at promoting safe, secure and trustworthy development and use of AI,” The Conversation noted. That outlet also said the decision follows a “recent trend of big tech entering the national security arena.”
According to The Conversation, this trend dates back to a when the administration of former President Joe Biden published a memo regarding “harnessing AI to fulfil national security objectives.” Big tech companies – including Meta, OpenAI and Amazon – “quickly heeded the message,” it said.
Following Google’s AI Principles update, Amnesty International issued a press release criticizing what it called the company’s “shameful decision to reverse its ban on AI for weapons,” and said that it was a “blow for human rights.” The group called for Google to reverse the changes.
Those changes weren’t the only recent ones from Google to make headlines. Audacy reported Wednesday that Google Maps and Apple Maps officially renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Shortly after taking office, the Trump administration updated the United States database for geographic names with the name change.
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