Author: Talya Minsberg / Source: New York Times
Mike Cohen for The New York Times
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — Ashton B. Carter, the former secretary of defense, understands why employees of technology companies have opposed partnerships and contracts with the United States government when it comes to artificial intelligence.
“My first reaction was ‘good on you’ because you are thinking morally and you are thinking about whether what you are doing is right or wrong,” Mr. Carter said at The New York Times New Work Summit in Half Moon Bay, Calif.
The sentiment comes at a time of strained relationships between Silicon Valley technology behemoths and the United States government.
When Mr. Carter was secretary of defense in the Obama administration, he was often considered a bridge builder between the Beltway and the Valley, founding agencies that brought together technologists and policymakers.
He notably issued a directive that stands today. “In any application of machine-assisted weaponry that involves the use of lethal force, there shall be a human being involved in the decision-making,” he said.
But those partnerships have been tested in the past year as protests, pushback and petitions have circulated widely among employees of technology companies.
Last July, Microsoft employees presented their chief executive, Satya Nadella, with a petition signed by more than 300,000 people that called on the company to cancel its contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Last June, Google declined to renew its contract with Project Maven at the Pentagon after extensive pushback from employees. The project used Google’s artificial intelligence software to improve the sorting and analysis of imagery from drones.
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