Exponential View

Exponential View

💭 The real reason tech companies want regulation

Clarence isn’t from the 313.

Azeem Azhar
Jan 26, 2020
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You couldn’t have missed it. The world’s largest tech companies have started to clamour for regulation in this hugely under-regulated sector. So I’ve taken a moment to pen some thoughts. I’d love your comments. And feel free to forward this to a friend.

On Monday, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet wrote in The FT:

there is no question in my mind that artificial intelligence needs to be regulated. It is too important not to. The only question is how to approach it.

He followed up on this in a trade event in Brussels where he called for a moratorium on facial recognition:

Facial recognition is fraught with risks. I think it is important that dominant regulation tackles it sooner rather than late. It is important that governments are involved. It can be immediate but maybe there’s a waiting period before we really think about how it’s being used.

I was in Brussels at the time with Microsoft’s President, Brad Smith, chatting about a similar topic. Brad has written a book, Tools and Weapons, on the du…

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