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Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance

(www.washingtonpost.com)
617 points jbegley | 3 comments | 04 Feb 25 20:28 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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chubot ◴[05 Feb 25 00:40 UTC] No.42941669[source]▶
It is interesting how these companies shift with the political winds

Just like Meta announced some changes around the time of inauguration, I'm sure Google management has noticed the AI announcements, and they don't want to be perceived in a certain way by the current administration

I think the truth is more in the middle (there is tons of disagreement within the company), but they naturally care about how they are perceived by those in power

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1. hsuduebc2 ◴[05 Feb 25 00:51 UTC] No.42941808[source]▶
I would say it's natural. Their one and only incentive isn't as they are trying to tell you "make a word better place" or similiar awkward corpo charade but to make a profit. That's a purpose why companies are created and they are always following it.
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2. nerdponx ◴[05 Feb 25 00:59 UTC] No.42941904[source]▶
I see it as the natural extension of the Chomsky "manufacturing consent" propaganda model. The people in key positions of power and authority know who their masters are, and everyone below them falls into line.
3. chubot ◴[05 Feb 25 01:29 UTC] No.42942261[source]▶
Sure, but I'd also say that the employee base has a line that is different than the government's, and that does matter for making profit. Creative and independent employees generally produce more than ones who are just following what the boss says

Actually, this reminds me of when Paul Graham came to Google, around 2005. Before that, I had read an essay or two, and thought he was kind of a blowhard.

But I actually thought he was a great speaker in person, and that lecture changed my opinion. He was talking about "Don't Be Evil", and he also said something very charming about how "Don't Be Evil" is conditional upon having the luxury to live up to that, which is true.

That applies to both companies and people:

- If Google wasn't a money-printing machine in 2005, then "don't be evil" would have been less appealing. And now in 2020, 2021, .... 2025, we can see that Google clearly thinks about its quarterly earning in a way that it didn't in 2005, so "don't be evil" is too constraining, and was discarded.

- For individuals, we may not pay much attention to "don't be evil" early in our careers. But it is more appealing when you're more established, and have had a couple decades to reflect on what you did with your time!