BRUSSELS – The EU's proposal for a temporary ban on facial-recognition technology won backing from Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai on Monday but got a cool response from Microsoft President Brad Smith. While Pichai cited the possibility that the technology could be used for nefarious purposes as a reason for a moratorium, Smith said a ban was akin to using a meat cleaver instead of a scalpel to solve potential problems. "I think it is important that governments and regulations tackle it sooner rather than later and give a framework for it," Pichai told a conference in Brussels organized by think-tank Bruegel. "It can be immediate but maybe there's a waiting period before we really think about how it's being used," he said. "It's up to governments to chart the course" for the use of such technology.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, speaks about artificial intelligence during a Bruegel think tank conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Jan. 20, 2020. The chief executive of Google parent company Alphabet on Monday backed an EU proposal to temporarily ban facial-recognition technology because of the possibility that it could be used for nefarious purposes. "I think it is important that governments and regulations tackle it sooner rather than later and gives a framework for it," Sundar Pichai told a conference in Brussels organized by think tank Bruegel. The European Commission, which acts as the EU executive, is taking a tougher line on artificial intelligence (AI) than the United States that would strengthen existing regulations on privacy and data rights, according to an 18-page proposal paper seen by Reuters. Part of this includes a moratorium of up to five years on using facial recognition technology in public areas, to give the EU time to work out how to prevent abuses, the paper said.