Alphabet (GOOGL) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Poland to speed up adoption of artificial intelligence in the country. Amid mounting fears in Warsaw that the U.S. might force Ukraine to do a peace deal with Poland’s neighbour Russia, the deal happens to come just days after Google lifted a ban on using AI for weapons and surveillance, although the announcement does not appear to make explicit reference to use of AI in defense.
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GOOGL Attends Paris AI Action Summit
It also comes as Google CEO Sundar Pichai met European leaders at the AI Action Summit in Paris this week, where the U.S. and the UK refused to sign a declaration on “inclusive and sustainable” artificial intelligence.
The summit was marked by an insistence on fostering AI innovation, with U.S. Vice President Vance cajoling European Union leaders in particular into being more positive and less “risk averse” about the technology. The deal between Poland and GOOGL maybe suggests the message is cutting through.
“We are excited to announce a new memorandum of understanding to use AI to drive economic growth and help transform sectors, including cybersecurity, health, and energy,” Pichai told reporters, according to Reuters.
Poland Wants AI to Help Defend Itself
In November, Poland said it would invest roughly $240 million in AI development to enhance its economic competitiveness and strengthen national security due to growing hybrid threats from Russia. The plan involves creating an Artificial Intelligence Fund and an advisory council to coordinate investments, which will include an AI Factory.
According to Forbes, Poland’s deputy prime minister and digital affairs minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, said, “There’s hardly a day now when critical infrastructure isn’t targeted by Russian services.”
And last week Polish President Andrzej Duda that his country plans to spend 4.7% of GDP on defense this year. Poland already spends 4.1% of its GDP on defense, more than any other NATO member. Lithuania intends to raise its spending on defense to between 5% and 6% of GDP starting in 2026.
GOOGL Ditched Peaceful AI Principles
On February 4th, a blog post from senior GOOGL executives signalled the company was lifting its self-imposed ban on harnessing AI for weapons or surveillance.
James Manyika, Google senior vice president for research, technology, and society, and Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, said the evolving landscape of AI and geopolitical struggles meant its principles had to change.
So, a note added to a 2018 webpage did away with language promising not to pursue “technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm,” and “weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people”. The amended AI principles also removed references to banning the use of “technologies that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms,” and “technologies whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”
The principles had first been published in 2018 in response to criticism over Google working on a U.S. military drone contract, which it chose not to renew.
But the update does away with peaceful principles, stating that GOOGL will implement “appropriate human oversight, due diligence, and feedback mechanisms to align with user goals, social responsibility, and widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”
Is GOOGL a Good Stock to Buy?
With 27 Buys and 10 Holds, Wall Street views GOOGL as a Moderate Buy. The average GOOGL price target stands at $215.85, suggesting a potential 17.5% upside from current levels.
