Thought Leadership
For years, Google refused to make artificial intelligence available for military purposes. Following a change in policy, it is now cooperating with a defense giant.
Google will provide the US defense contractor Lockheed Martin with AI software. The artificial intelligence capabilities are to be used in areas such as the evaluation of reconnaissance data, decision-making, software development and the optimization of technical designs. Google recently abandoned its explicit promise not to provide AI for weapons systems.
On the Internet company’s side, the Google Public Sector division, which interacts with the public sector, is involved in the cooperation. Google’s artificial intelligence is to be incorporated into Lockheed’s concept of “AI factories” and supplement in-house software, the defense company announced. Google’s cloud division will provide a platform for managing the AI capabilities. Lockheed builds fighter planes, helicopters, missile systems and radar systems, among other things.
In 2018, Google made a voluntary commitment not to supply AI for weapons systems. This was triggered by opposition within the company to its involvement in a US military drone program. The current Google principles on artificial intelligence generally state that the company wants to bring AI in line with “widely accepted principles of international law and human rights”.
dpa
