Trump Stokes Outrage in Silicon Valley--But It's Selective

Silicon Valley is in the middle of an awakening, the dawning but selective realization that their products can be used to achieve terrible ends. In the past few months, this growing unease has bubbled up into outright rebellion from within the rank and file of some of the largest companies in the Valley, beginning in April when Google employees balked at the company's involvement with a Pentagon artificial intelligence program called Project Maven. On Monday, Amazon shareholders sent an open letter asking CEO Jeff Bezos to halt a program developing facial recognition software for governments pending a review by the board of directors. Also this week, as general horror built up over the Trump administration's new "zero tolerance" immigration policy, which has led to the separation of more than 2,000 children from their parents, Microsoft employees objected to their company's contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use Microsoft's Azure cloud services. "We are part of a growing movement, comprised of many across the industry who recognize the grave responsibility that those creating powerful technology have to ensure what they build is used for good, and not for harm," reads an open letter posted to the company's internal message board Tuesday.