And so, like OpenAI and Anthropic, Google DeepMind wants the United States’ AI to be stronger than China’s AI. And like OpenAI, it intends to make weapons for the US government.
One might think that in dropping its commitments not to cause net harm and not to violate international law and human rights, Google is signalling its intent to violate human rights. On the contrary, I believe it’s merely allowing itself to threaten human rights — or rather, build weapons that will enable the US government to threaten human rights in order to achieve its goals.
(That’s the purpose of a military, after all. We usually don’t spell this out because it’s ugly.)
This move is an escalation of the AI race that makes AI war more likely. And even if war is averted, it will further shift the balance of power from individuals to already-powerful institutions. And in the meantime, the AIs themselves may become autonomous actors with their own purposes.
And so, like OpenAI and Anthropic, Google DeepMind wants the United States’ AI to be stronger than China’s AI. And like OpenAI, it intends to make weapons for the US government.
One might think that in dropping its commitments not to cause net harm and not to violate international law and human rights, Google is signalling its intent to violate human rights. On the contrary, I believe it’s merely allowing itself to threaten human rights — or rather, build weapons that will enable the US government to threaten human rights in order to achieve its goals.
(That’s the purpose of a military, after all. We usually don’t spell this out because it’s ugly.)
This move is an escalation of the AI race that makes AI war more likely. And even if war is averted, it will further shift the balance of power from individuals to already-powerful institutions. And in the meantime, the AIs themselves may become autonomous actors with their own purposes.