30 Aug 2023

Tech companies are evolving into military contractors

From Nine To Noon, 9:05 am on 30 August 2023
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Photo: 123RF

Dr Jack Poulson is a Silicon valley whistleblower shining a light on the link between tech companies and the military.

Five years ago, he quit as a Research Scientist in Google's AI division, over plans the tech giant had to build a censored search engine for the Chinese market.

That plan was shelved, but Jack Poulson felt strongly that tech company employees should have the right to know when they are working on projects they may find ethically unacceptable.

He and several other tech defectors founded a non profit organisation called Tech Inquiry, with a mission to crunch data and map out relationships between big tech and governments.

Dr Poulson says increasingly tech companies are evolving into military contractors.

He's in New Zealand from New York, to speak at a Canterbury University workshop this week, and will deliver a public talk this evening.