The Tricky Ethics of Google's Cloud Ambitions

Google's attempt to wrest more cloud computing dollars from market leaders Amazon and Microsoft got a new boss late last year. Next week, Thomas Kurian is expected to lay out his vision for the business at the company's cloud computing conference, building on his predecessor's strategy of emphasizing Google's strength in artificial intelligence. That strategy is complicated by controversies over how Google and its clients use the powerful technology. After employee protests over a Pentagon contract in which Google trained algorithms to interpret drone imagery, the cloud unit now subjects its--and its customers'--AI projects to ethical reviews. They have caused Google to turn away some business.