Google offers $800 million to pandemic-impacted businesses, health agencies

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Google on Friday pledged $800 million worth of support for health organizations, researchers and businesses impacted by the crisis.

The aid will come in the form of cash, ad credits, and cloud services from the California-based internet colossus, according to chief executive Sundar Pichai.


Google will provide $250 million in ad grants to the World Health Organization and more than 100 other public agencies around the world providing information to stem the spread of the coronavirus, according to Pichai.

Some $340 million worth of free advertising will be made available to small- or medium-sized businesses in Google’s network that are taking financial hits as people stay home due to virus risk.

“We hope it will help to alleviate some of the cost of staying in touch with their customers,” Pichai said in a blog post.

A pool of $20 million world of credits for services hosted in the Google “cloud” will be available to researchers and academic institutions exploring ways to combat the deadly pandemic or that are tracking critical data about its spread.

Google will also match as much as $10,000 in donations its employees make to organizations in their communities this year, increasing the amount from $7,500.

“Together, we’ll continue to help our communities—including our businesses, educators, researchers and nonprofits—to navigate the challenges ahead,” Pichai said.

Google has been working with partners to ramp up production of protective gear such as face masks for healthcare providers.

Employees from Alphabet divisions including Google, Verily and X are also working with equipment makers to increase the production of ventilators needed to keep some COVID-19 sufferers alive, according to Pichai.

Agence France-Presse

Google outlines steps to tackle workplace harassment

Google on Thursday outlined changes to its handling of sexual misconduct complaints, hoping to calm outrage that triggered a worldwide walkout of workers last week.

“We recognize that we have not always gotten everything right in the past and we are sincerely sorry for that,” chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a message to employees, a copy of which was shared with AFP.


“It’s clear we need to make some changes.”

Arbitration of harassment claims will be optional instead of obligatory, according to Pichai, a move that could end anonymous settlements that fail to identify those accused of harassment.

“Google has never required confidentiality in the arbitration process and it still may be the best path for a number of reasons (e.g. personal privacy, predictability of process), but, we recognize that the choice should be up to you,” he said in the memo.


Pichai promised that Google will be more transparent with how concerns are handled, and provide better support and care to those who raise such issues with the company.

Google will provide “more granularity,” regarding sexual harassment investigations and their outcomes, according to Pichai.

A section of an internal “Investigations Report” will focus on sexual harassment to show numbers of substantiated concerns as well as trends and disciplinary actions, according to the California-based company.

He also said Google is consolidating the complaint system and that the process for handling concerns will include providing support people and counselors.



Google CEO Sundar Pichai promised more transparency in dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct. Image: Getty/Justin Sullivan via AFP

Google on Thursday outlined changes to its handling of sexual misconduct complaints, hoping to calm outrage that triggered a worldwide walkout of workers last week.

“We recognize that we have not always gotten everything right in the past and we are sincerely sorry for that,” chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a message to employees, a copy of which was shared with AFP.


“It’s clear we need to make some changes.”

Arbitration of harassment claims will be optional instead of obligatory, according to Pichai, a move that could end anonymous settlements that fail to identify those accused of harassment.

“Google has never required confidentiality in the arbitration process and it still may be the best path for a number of reasons (e.g. personal privacy, predictability of process), but, we recognize that the choice should be up to you,” he said in the memo.



Pichai promised that Google will be more transparent with how concerns are handled, and provide better support and care to those who raise such issues with the company.

Google will provide “more granularity,” regarding sexual harassment investigations and their outcomes, according to Pichai.

A section of an internal “Investigations Report” will focus on sexual harassment to show numbers of substantiated concerns as well as trends and disciplinary actions, according to the California-based company.

He also said Google is consolidating the complaint system and that the process for handling concerns will include providing support people and counselors.



Google will update its mandatory sexual harassment training, and require it annually instead of every two years as had been the case.

Less booze

Google is also putting the onus on team leaders to tighten the tap on booze at company events, on or off campus, to curtail the potential for drunken misbehavior.

“Harassment is never acceptable and alcohol is never an excuse,” Google said in a released action statement.



“But, one of the most common factors among the harassment complaints made today at Google is that the perpetrator had been drinking.”

Google policy already bans excessive consumption of alcohol on the job; while on company business, or at work-related events.

Some teams at the company have already instituted two-drink limits at events or use ticket systems, Google said.

Google executives overseeing events will be expected to strongly discourage excessive drinking, according to the company, which vowed “onerous actions” if problems persisted.

The company also promised to “recommit” to improving workplace diversity through hiring, retention, and career advancement.’

“Googleplex” walkout

Thousands of Google employees joined a coordinated worldwide walkout a week ago to protest the US tech giant’s handling of sexual harassment.

A massive turnout at the “Googleplex” in Silicon Valley was the final stage of a global walkout that began in Asia and spread to Google offices in Europe.

Some 20,000 Google employees and contractors participated in the protest in 50 cities around the world, according to organizers.



Demma Rodriguez, head of equity engineering and a seven-year Google employee, said during the walkout that it was an important part of bringing fairness to the technology colossus.

“We have an aspiration to be the best company in the world,” Rodriguez said.

“But we also have goals as a company and we can’t decide we are going to miss those.”

The protest took shape after Google said it had fired 48 employees in the past two years — including 13 senior executives — as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct.

Demands posted by organizers included an end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination for all current and future employees, along with a right for every Google worker to bring a co-worker, representative, or supporter when filing a harassment claim.

In a statement organizers commended Google for the response, but said more changes are needed.

“We demand a truly equitable culture, and Google leadership can achieve this by putting employee representation on the board and giving full rights and protections to contract workers,” organizer Stephanie Parker said in the statement.



Along with sexual harassment, Google needs to address racism and discrimination that includes inequity in pay and promotions, organizers said.

“They all have the same root cause, which is a concentration of power and a lack of accountability at the top,” Parker said. CC

source: business.inquirer.net

Google rules out using artificial intelligence for weapons

SAN FRANCISCO – Google announced on Thursday it would not use artificial intelligence for weapons or to “cause or directly facilitate injury to people,” as it unveiled a set of principles for the technologies.

Chief executive Sundar Pichai, in a blog post outlining the company’s artificial intelligence policies, noted that even though Google would not use AI for weapons, “we will continue our work with governments and the military in many other areas” such as cybersecurity, training, or search and rescue.

The news comes with Google facing an uproar from employees and others over a contract with the United States military, which the California tech giant said last week would not be renewed.

Pichai set out seven principles for Google’s application of artificial intelligence, or advanced computing that can simulate intelligent human behavior.

He said Google is using AI “to help people tackle urgent problems” such as prediction of wildfires, helping farmers, diagnosing disease or preventing blindness.

“We recognize that such powerful technology raises equally powerful questions about its use,” Pichai said in the blog.

“How AI is developed and used will have a significant impact on society for many years to come. As a leader in AI, we feel a deep responsibility to get this right,” Pichai also wrote.

The chief executive said Google’s AI programs would be designed for applications that are “socially beneficial” and “avoid creating or reinforcing unfair bias.”

He said the principles also called for AI applications to be “built and tested for safety,” to be “accountable to people” and to “incorporate privacy design principles.”

Google will avoid the use of any technologies “that cause or are likely to cause overall harm,” Pichai wrote.

That means steering clear of “weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people” and systems “that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms.”


Google also will ban the use of any technologies “whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights,” Pichai said.

‘A good start’

Some initial reaction to the announcement was positive.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which had led opposition to Google’s Project Maven contract with the Pentagon, called the news “a big win for ethical AI principles.”

“Congratulations to the Googlers and others who have worked hard to persuade the company to cancel its work on Project Maven,” EFF said on Twitter.

Ryan Calo, a University of Washington law professor and fellow at the Stanford Center for Internet & Society, tweeted: “Google’s AI ethics principles owe more to (English philosopher Jeremy) Bentham and the positivists than (German philosopher) Kant. Nevertheless, a good start.”

Calo added, “The clear statement that they won’t facilitate violence or totalitarian surveillance is meaningful.”

The move comes amid growing concerns that automated or robotic systems could be misused and spin out of control, leading to chaos. At the same time, Google has faced criticism that it has drifted away from its original founders’ motto of “don’t be evil.”

Several technology firms have already agreed to the general principles of using artificial intelligence for good but Google appeared to offer a more precise set of standards.

The company, which is already a member of the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence including dozens of tech firms committed to AI principles, had faced criticism for the contract with the Pentagon on Project Maven, which uses machine learning and engineering talent to distinguish people and objects in drone videos.

Faced with a petition signed by thousands of employees and criticism outside the company, Google indicated the $10 million contract would not be renewed, according to media reports.

But Google is believed to be competing against other tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft for lucrative “cloud computing” contracts with the US government, including for military and intelligence agencies.                   /kga

source: technology.inquirer.net

Allo there! New messaging app ‘will do everything’ for you

“Allo” is the French word for “hello” and it seems to be a fitting name for Google’s new messaging app, which is set to rival existing messaging apps out there.

Google already has a chat app called Hangouts and many people are still using it because of its video calling feature. It came as a surprise when the tech company announced that it is coming up with a new messaging app.

Google is marketing it as a “smart messaging app” because it uses the full potential of machine learning, which simply means predicting your next message by studying your past conversations using artificial intelligence. It “remembers” the pattern of previous messages and from there, it will provide suggestions as you try to chat with someone.

This idea prompted American whistle-blower and former National Security Agency insider Edward Snowden to tweet a warning not to download or use it because Google “retains your data by default” a day before the official launch. But Google never claimed otherwise. It’s out there and many people understand that to predict your next message, software needs to understand your behavior through previous messages.

Google Assistant 

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been raving about Google Assistant since months ago and his dream of an Assistant for every Android user is coming true.  

This is probably Allo’s advantage over other messaging apps such as Messenger, What’s App or Viber. Think of iOS’ Siri and you have Google Assistant, a bot that answers your queries. It is an upgrade of “OK Google” where you can ask directions or even translations if you are in a different country and having language barrier.

To “chat” with Google Assistant just type @google when sending messages.

Smart Reply

This feature can be a bit “creepy” because you can “respond without typing.” By just a single tap, it will suggest certain responses or emojis based on your personality or messaging history. Again, machine learning and artificial intelligence will “judge you” based on the words you often use or what emotions do you often express.

Allo doesn’t want you to go anywhere but within the app so it will let you doodle with photos within the conversation. You can write notes on the photo or create your own memes without leaving the app.

Stickers

And then, there are the stickers. This generation has learned to communicate and express their feelings with stickers and emojis. The use of words is becoming less and less of a need because “millennial speak” means using stickers and emojis and abbreviations: TL;DR (too long; didn’t read), anyone?

Allo offers cool stickers that could keep any conversation going.

Google said, “Stickers in Google Allo are designed by independent artists and studios from around the world. From Drama Llama to Food Party, add some fun to the conversation when words aren’t enough.”

Incognito

There’s a semblance with another messaging app Snapchat because aside from sending encrypted messages or those that may need some sort of a password, Allo also “comes with expiring chats so you can control how long your messages stick around and private notifications to help keep your chats more discreet.”

Basically, Google Allo is a hodgepodge of other messaging apps available—only better.

Pichai said in an interview a few months ago that it doesn’t matter whether a new product or service looks like a “me too,” but you can judge it through the “execution.”

News said Google Allo has already reached 5 million downloads in just a week. It looks like the tech giant’s huge investment and innovation on machine learning and artificial intelligence is paying off.

Google Allo is available on Android and iOS.

source: technology.inquirer.net