SAN FRANCISCO: Google is dropping out of the bidding for a huge Pentagon cloud computing contract that could be worth up to $10 billion, saying the deal would be inconsistent with its principles.
The decision by Google leaves a handful of other tech giants in the running for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract aimed at modernizing the military’s computing systems.
The move comes following protests by Google employees on its involvement in a separate military effort, Project Maven, using artificial intelligence to help interpret video images. Google decided not to renew its involvement in Maven and this week backed away from the cloud computing contract, citing similar concerns about values.
“While we are working to support the US government with our cloud in many areas, we are not bidding on the JEDI contract because first, we couldn’t be assured that it would align with our AI Principles and second, we determined that there were portions of the contract that were out of scope with our current government certifications,” Google said in a statement.
“We will continue to pursue strategic work to help state, local and federal customers modernize their infrastructure and meet their mission critical requirements.”
In June, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai unveiled a set of principles on the company’s use of artificial intelligence, saying that the company would not participate in “technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm” and would stay away from “weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people.”
Google drops out of bid for Pentagon cloud contract
Google drops out of bid for Pentagon cloud contract
- The decision by Google leaves a handful of other tech giants in the running for the contract
- The move comes following protests by Google employees on its involvement in a separate military effort, Project Maven
Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick appointed Meta president and vice chairman
- The former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official previously served on Meta’s board of directors
- Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a child, joins the management team and will help guide overall strategy and execution
LONDON: Meta has appointed Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick as its new president and vice chairman.
The company said on Monday that the former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official, who previously served on Meta’s board of directors, is stepping up into a senior leadership role as the company accelerates its push into artificial intelligence and global infrastructure.
Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a young girl, will join the management team and help guide its overall strategy and execution. She will work closely with Meta’s Compute and infrastructure teams, the company said, overseeing multi-billion-dollar investments in data centers, energy systems and global connectivity, while building new strategic capital partnerships.
“Dina’s experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her uniquely suited to help Meta manage this next phase of growth as the company’s president and vice chairman,” Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Powell McCormick has more than 25 years of experience in finance, national security and economic development. She spent 16 years as a partner at Goldman Sachs in senior leadership roles, and served two US presidents, including stints as deputy national security adviser to Donald Trump, and a senior State Department official under George W. Bush.
Most recently, she was vice chair and president of global client services at merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners.
