Wednesday, February 27, 2019

High Tech Patriotism


Just in case you didn’t believe that the nation was suffering a patriotism deficit, high tech companies have stepped forth to disabuse you of your naivetĂ©.

First, it was Google. As the Wall Street Journal editorialized:

Last year Google employee-activists successfully bullied CEO Sundar Pichai into backing out of one Pentagon artificial-intelligence project and withdrawing a bid for another.

Unpatriotic activists have now set their sights on Microsoft:

Microsoft employees are circulating a petition demanding the company drop a Pentagon contract for an augmented-reality system they say will turn “warfare into a simulated ‘video game,’ further distancing soldiers from the grim stakes of war and the reality of bloodshed.” The employees also want Microsoft to “cease developing any and all weapons technologies.”

What will happen if this becomes more pervasive?

If they spread throughout the industry, they could end up eroding the U.S. military’s access to top-of-the line artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, authoritarian countries like China are mustering the full force of their technology in their militaries and for domestic political control.

Fortunately, Microsoft executives are made of sterner stuff than Google executives. The Journal continues:

CEO Satya Nadella told CNN that “we made a principled decision that we’re not going to withhold technology from institutions that we have elected in democracies to protect the freedoms we enjoy.”

If our major tech firms refuse to support America, we are going to find ourselves at a serious competitive disadvantage:

No company can be forced to enter into a contract. But the integrity of U.S. defense has always depended on a basic sense of patriotism in private industry. Mr. Nadella should stick to his guns.

Ah, yes, patriotism. Apparently, today’s left has lost its sense of patriotism. It has decided to use its massive power to advance a political cause, a leftist cause, at that. Inevitably, the United States Congress will crack down on these companies, which have become far too powerful for their or anyone else’s good. Trust busting is coming at them.

3 comments:

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Wow, someone said “NO!” to a bunch of children with non-negotiable demands. There are still grown-ups left in tech.

trigger warning said...

As I've commented here before, I am reluctant to agree that the withdrawal of Google, and a possible retreat by Microsoft, from military contracting is a bad thing. Those businesses are chock-a-block with SJWs and HB-1 visas with minimal background checks, and are, in my opinion at least, potential hives for national security risks. There are plenty of tested and true tech contractors out there like Raytheon, Lockheed, and Northrop that have vast software development experience.

Sam L. said...

"Microsoft employees are circulating a petition demanding the company drop a Pentagon contract for an augmented-reality system they say will turn “warfare into a simulated ‘video game,’ further distancing soldiers from the grim stakes of war and the reality of bloodshed.” The employees also want Microsoft to “cease developing any and all weapons technologies.” They're never going to get shot at. If they were, I would expect they'd have a completely different opinion.

"Trust busting is coming at them." I look forward to this!