IBM will no longer develop facial recognition technology following George Floyd protests

IBM will no longer develop technology for facial recognition following protests against racial inequality in the US and UK. In a letter to congress, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said that the company "no longer offers general purpose IBM facial recognition or analysis software." "IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms, or any purpose which is not consistent with our values and Principles of Trust and Transparency." "We believe now is the time to begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies," the letter states. Mr Krishna also recommended that police should be more accountable for their misconduct, and expanding opportunities in communities of colour for "new collar" jobs – those which require specialised skills but do not require the traditional university degree, such as cybersecurity and cloud computing, both of which IBM develops.