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Google Quietly Lifts Ban on AI Use for Surveillance and Weapons

The company issued a stark update to its original 2018 policy.

Google issued an update to its artificial intelligence policy Tuesday, largely removing prior language that indicated the company would not use AI for weapons and surveillance. In 2018, the company published its initial AI policy which read that it would not pursue any technologies that “cause or are likely to cause overall harm” or “gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms” among other restrictions. The blog post now features an appended note which redirects users to Google’s updated policy that does not include these banned uses. Instead, the new document states that Google will execute “appropriate human oversight, due diligence, and feedback mechanisms to align with user goals, social responsibility, and widely accepted principles of international law and human rights” and will try to “mitigate unintended or harmful outcomes.” In a blog post, Google executives coined the increased use of AI, global competition, and new standards as a “backdrop” for why their principals were updated.