Google bans development of artificial intelligence used in weaponry

Google is banning the development of artificial-intelligence software that can be used in weapons, chief executive Sundar Pichai said Thursday, setting strict new ethical guidelines for how the tech giant should conduct business in an age of increasingly powerful AI. The new rules could set the tone for the deployment of AI far beyond Google, as rivals in Silicon Valley and around the world compete for supremacy in self-driving cars, automated assistants, robotics, military AI and other industries. "We recognize that such powerful technology raises equally powerful questions about its use," Pichai wrote in a blog post. "As a leader in AI, we feel a special responsibility to get this right." The ethical principles are a response to a firestorm of employee resignations and public criticism over a Google contract with the Defense Department for software that could help analyze drone video, which critics argued had nudged the company one step closer to the "business of war."