Google announced Monday that it would be giving away $25 million in grants to organizations and researchers exploring how to use artificial intelligence to “help address some of the world’s greatest social, humanitarian and environmental problems.”
The company will select recipients from a pool of applicants to the new initiative, called “AI for Social Good,” in the spring of 2019.
“We’re excited to see what new ideas nonprofits, developers and social entrepreneurs from across the world come up with — and we’re looking forward to supporting them as best we can,” Google said in a blog post.
The new project comes after Google’s own employees pressured the company into dropping out of bidding for an AI project with the Pentagon over concerns that the technology could be used for targeted killing.
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Microsoft, however, announced last week that it had no issues with defense contracts, though it acknowledged that some of its employees may have their own concerns.
Google on Monday said it would choose the grant recipients with the help of a panel of experts from the technology and nonprofit worlds.
“We want people from as many backgrounds as possible to surface problems that AI can help solve, and to be empowered to create solutions themselves,” the company said.
Date: October 31, 2018
Source: The Hill