Google CEO bans autonomous weapons in new AI guidelines

Google today released guidelines for the creation of artificial intelligence, which includes a ban on making autonomous weaponry and most applications of AI with the potential to harm people. The guidelines emerge just days after Google announced it would not renew its contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to analyze drone footage. As a self-described AI-first company, proprietor of popular open source frameworks like Kaggle and TensorFlow, and employer of prominent researchers, Google is one of the most influential companies in AI. "We want to be clear that while we are not developing AI for use in weapons, we will continue our work with governments and the military in many other areas. These include cybersecurity, training, military recruitment, veterans' healthcare, and search and rescue," CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post. In the post, Pichai spells out the principles that should be considered when creating AI, as well as applications of AI that Google will not pursue.