NO MORE ‘RACIAL PROFILING’

IBM Won’t Make Facial Recognition Technology Anymore, CEO Tells Congress

The company said in a letter to Congress that it opposed using the technology for mass surveillance and racial profiling.

IBM’s CEO announced Tuesday the company will no longer make facial recognition software. In a letter to Congress, Arvind Krishna, who assumed the head role in April 2020, wrote that the tech giant “has sunset its general purpose facial recognition and analysis software products.” The Armonk, New York software and hardware business had previously inked a contract with the NYPD to test the facial recognition software’s use in aiding law enforcement. Researchers have found that software like IBM’s is less accurate in identifying people of color, and several cities have barred police from using it entirely. Krishna added, “IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling.”