Now, these restrictions have vanished. The revised AI Principles emphasize the company’s commitment to “responsible” AI development and adherence to “widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.” However, the once-clear prohibitions on military use have been removed.
Google Executives Defend the Shift
A blog post by Google Senior Vice President James Manyika and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis attempted to justify the policy changes.
While the executives did not directly address the removal of the military-use restrictions, they cited AI’s rapid development and its widespread impact on society as reasons for updating Google’s policies.
They wrote, “We believe democracies should lead AI’s development, guided by core values like freedom, equality, and respect for human rights.”
The closest they came to mentioning military applications was in the following statement: “We believe that companies, governments, and organizations sharing these values should work together to create AI that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security.”
Unanswered Questions
Google has not clarified how these policy changes will influence its actions going forward. The company declined to respond to inquiries from SFGATE regarding the updates.
