Apple has ended its work on the controversial Pentagon drone programme codenamed “Project Maven,” The Information reports. The Cupertino company recently acquired Xnor.ai, a maker of artificial intelligence software for mobile devices.
Xnor.ai’s AI software could potentially lead to AI applications running directly on iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices, and not via the cloud.
Before Apple’s acquisition, Xnor.ai was working with the US military on Project Maven, an artificial intelligence project related to drone imagery. Project Maven looks to use AI to identify and people captured in military drone footage. This could mean a military drone being able to directly identify objects and people it’s capturing, as opposed to sending footage back to a human analyst for identification. At a macro view, it could mean autonomous weaponised drones.
While potentially lucrative, Apple doesn’t want to be part of the controversial military programme.
Earlier, Google was also involved in the project, however, after employee protests, it pulled out. The company later issued a statement promising that it would not support the use of AI for weaponised systems.
VIA CultofMac
Header image: Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt | Wikipedia
