Alibaba says it won't allow its tech to target, identify ethnic groups

A logo of Alibaba Group is seen at the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, November 18, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song/Files

(Reuters) - Alibaba Group said it will not allow its technology to be used for targeting and identifying specific ethnic groups, following a report that its facial recognition technology can pick out Uighur minorities.

Alibaba, in a statement, said it was "dismayed" that Alibaba Cloud developed facial recognition technology that includes ethnicity as an attribute for tagging video imagery and that the firm never intended the technology to be used in this manner.