Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

SoylentNews is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop. Only 15 submissions in the queue.

Pentagon Brass Bafflingly Accuses Google of Providing "Direct Benefit" to China's Military

posted by takyon on Monday March 18 2019, @08:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the google-brass dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for soysheep9857

There are many reasons to be critical of Google. But on Thursday, General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stopped just short of accusing the tech giant of treason.

Dunford's incendiary comments came during a budgetary hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee this afternoon. During his time for questioning, freshman Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican, turned to the subject of Google's decision to back away from projects with the Pentagon. Hawley asked the panel if he understood the situation correctly and that the men were saying, "that Google, an American company, supposedly, is refusing to work with the Department of Defense, but is doing work with China, in China, in a way that at least indirectly benefits the Chinese government."

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan tempered that assertion, explaining that he hasn't heard anyone use the word "refuse," but that Google has shown "a lack of willingness to support DOD programs."

But General Dunford was more open to going on the attack. When given the chance to elaborate on his concerns, he told Senator Hawley:

You know, senator, I'm nodding my head on exactly the point that you made: that the work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefitting the Chinese military. And I've been very public on this issue as well; in fact, the way I described it to our industry partners is, 'look we're the good guys in the values that we represent and the system that we represent is the one that will allow and has allowed you to thrive,' and that's the way I've characterized it. I was just nodding that what the secretary was articulating is the general sense of all of us as leaders. We watch with great concern when industry partners work in China knowing there is that indirect benefit, and frankly 'indirect' may be not a full characterization of the way it really is. It's more of a direct benefit to the Chinese military.

Source: https://gizmodo.com/pentagon-brass-bafflingly-accuses-google-of-providing-d-1833302885

Related: Google Employees on Pentagon AI Algorithms: "Google Should Not be in the Business of War"
About a Dozen Google Employees Have Resigned Over Project Maven
Google Drafting Ethics Policy for its Involvement in Military Projects
Google Will Not Continue Project Maven After Contract Expires in 2019
Microsoft Misrepresented HoloLens 2 Field of View, Faces Backlash for Military Contract

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Pentagon Brass Bafflingly Accuses Google of Providing "Direct Benefit" to China's Military | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 37 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday March 18 2019, @09:28PM (6 children)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Monday March 18 2019, @09:28PM (#816638)

    It ain't treason, it's unashamed, unabashed capitalism. Those would should be sued for treason are our elected officials, you entrust private corporations - whose sole agenda is to pander to their shareholder's unquenchable thirst for money without any concern for morals or restraints - with public tasks and management of the commons.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=3, Total=3
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   5  

  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @09:56PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @09:56PM (#816661)

    If you people would just stop using the word "capitalism" in the wrong way you would be far more effective and getting people to listen to you.

    Try this: Go on your rants without using the terms "capitalist", "capitalism" or "free markets". Instead just describe what is going on. Misusing those terms only distracts from your correct description of what is happening.

    • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @11:05PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @11:05PM (#816690)

      Try this: Go on your rants without using the terms "capitalist", "capitalism" or "free markets".

      Um, you first?

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @11:11PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @11:11PM (#816694)

        I don't think I have ever used those terms except in response to someone using them to complain about some sort of crony-socialist activity.

        I mean, the same people are just going to keep scamming you until you figure out what is going on.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday March 19 2019, @05:31AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 19 2019, @05:31AM (#816817) Journal
        I have to agree with the grandparent. I've mentioned capitalism on my own initiative a few times, but usually it's in response to someone without a clue, often reciting a litany of woe concerning the term while getting virtually everything wrong. A classic example of this is my journal article [soylentnews.org] of about a year and a half ago. It's one thing to be off on scale, say thinking something is worse than it actually is. But it's a much more pathetic thing to not even get the sign right, over and over again. While I like Roscoe's posts for the most part, let's look at his post again.

        [Rosco P. Coltrane:] It ain't treason, it's unashamed, unabashed capitalism. Those would should be sued for treason are our elected officials, you entrust private corporations - whose sole agenda is to pander to their shareholder's unquenchable thirst for money without any concern for morals or restraints - with public tasks and management of the commons.

        First, one doesn't sue for treason. Second, it's elected officials with public funds and public goods (the commons). That's not capitalism, which remains any economic system with private ownership of capital and all that entails.

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 19 2019, @12:17AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 19 2019, @12:17AM (#816720)

      triggered!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 19 2019, @01:22AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 19 2019, @01:22AM (#816748)

        Oh well, some people are just too dumb to figure it out. Have fun being angry and poor since you refuse to understand how you are being scammed.