These Startups Are Building Tools to Keep an Eye on AI

In January, Liz O'Sullivan wrote a letter to her boss at artificial intelligence startup Clarifai, asking him to set ethical limits on its Pentagon contracts. WIRED had previously revealed that the company worked on a controversial project processing drone imagery. O'Sullivan urged CEO Matthew Zeiler to pledge the company would not contribute to the development of weapons that decide for themselves whom to harm or kill. At a company meeting a few days later, O'Sullivan says, Zeiler rebuffed the plea, telling staff he saw no problems with contributing to autonomous weapons. Clarifai did not respond to a request for comment.