Money, mimicry and mind control: Big Tech slams ethics brakes on AI

FILE PHOTO: A screen with a Google Cloud logo is pictured during Google's presentation of a detailed investment plan for Germany outside the Google office in Berlin, Germany, August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In September last year, Google's cloud unit looked into using artificial intelligence to help a financial firm decide whom to lend money to.

It turned down the client's idea after weeks of internal discussions, deeming the project too ethically dicey because the AI technology could perpetuate biases like those around race and gender.