Apple nixed Xnor.ai's involvement in Pentagon's Project Maven following acquisition
Apple reportedly directed artificial intelligence startup Xnor.ai to cease work on U.S. Department of Defense initiative Project Maven after it acquired the company in January.
Source: DOD
Citing people familiar with the matter, The Information on Wednesday reports Xnor.ai was until recently working on Project Maven with fellow startup Clarifai. That ended shortly after Apple bought the Seattle-based Xnor.ai for a reported $200 million this month.
Officially announced in 2017, Project Maven seeks to develop computer vision technologies capable of autonomously analyzing image data captured by military drones and other systems. To achieve its goal, the government is working with a number of private sector specialists as it builds out the technology.
Spun out of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Xnor.ai focused on low-power, edge-based artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms that can run on-device instead of in the cloud.
As noted by the report, running AI processes like image recognition on an iPhone instead of offsite -- a practice that edge-based computing enables -- could raise privacy concerns. Always the bastion of consumer security, Apple likely recognized the implications -- and optics -- of Xnor.ai's involvement in Project Maven and terminated the work before the press caught wind of the relationship.
Unlike other big tech firms, like Google which pulled out of Project Maven after protests from employees, Apple typically distances itself from military contracting activities. The company has in the past supplied devices to various military branches on terms similar or identical to conventional enterprise sales. In 2008, Apple allowed then recently-acquired PA Semi to temporarily continue component supply deals with military equipment makers.
Source: DOD
Citing people familiar with the matter, The Information on Wednesday reports Xnor.ai was until recently working on Project Maven with fellow startup Clarifai. That ended shortly after Apple bought the Seattle-based Xnor.ai for a reported $200 million this month.
Officially announced in 2017, Project Maven seeks to develop computer vision technologies capable of autonomously analyzing image data captured by military drones and other systems. To achieve its goal, the government is working with a number of private sector specialists as it builds out the technology.
Spun out of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Xnor.ai focused on low-power, edge-based artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms that can run on-device instead of in the cloud.
As noted by the report, running AI processes like image recognition on an iPhone instead of offsite -- a practice that edge-based computing enables -- could raise privacy concerns. Always the bastion of consumer security, Apple likely recognized the implications -- and optics -- of Xnor.ai's involvement in Project Maven and terminated the work before the press caught wind of the relationship.
Unlike other big tech firms, like Google which pulled out of Project Maven after protests from employees, Apple typically distances itself from military contracting activities. The company has in the past supplied devices to various military branches on terms similar or identical to conventional enterprise sales. In 2008, Apple allowed then recently-acquired PA Semi to temporarily continue component supply deals with military equipment makers.
Comments
Doing things on the phone is good for privacy, BUT it it is very bad for Apple if their tech is used on standalone units in combat; which could mean targeting systems, or quickly analyzing a crowd to identify predetermined targets.
The privacy concerns themselves aren’t really an issue whether the government analyze the data on a mobile or centralized unit.
But then again, we're currently looking at Huawei with mistrustful eyes because of that so there's that aspect involved as well.
If Apple worked on a project for the US Dept. of Defense, that is partly or wholly funded by the US Dept. of Defense, who owns the technology developed under that deal? I imagine that if the technology proves highly useful, that the government can limit Apple use of the technology in their own products, as government money was used to help develop it.
But if Apple develops the technology on their own, with their own money, the Dept. of Defense can always later pay Apple, for the use of that technology and won't be able tell Apple that they can't use the technology for their own products.
Just because Apple halted work with the US Dept. of Defense project, it doesn't mean that Apple is no longer going to work on the technology for their own use.
But I don't blame smaller tech companies for working with the US Dept. of Defense on developing new technology, that they otherwise could not afford to develop on their own.
There is no real conflict of interest in the classic sense.
AI vision has multiple uses and of course, there are military uses among those, which may lead to ethical or moral issues.
As for wanting to be the next Huawei. The answer is very much, yes. Being a world leader at every end of the ICT chain is where Apple would love to be.
It would play a part in world communications specifications, hold key patents, have no trouble building its own wireless chips and be an active participant future ICT moves.
Apple could actually get in on the act thanks to Huawei. For a one time fee Huawei would make its technology available to a U.S firm in order to create a U.S competitor in 5G.
The problem though would be an internal issue for U.S regulators and a massive logistics and know-how undertaking.
For example AT&T wouldn't want Apple on its turf. Frequency auctions, engineering, manufacturing and millions of other issues would arise.
The option does exist though, and at least one carrier is rumoured to be looking at it.
Although there is not a shred of evidence that Huawei did any more along these lines than Apple did. Just lots and lots and lots of propaganda.
Comparing China to Nazi Germany or suggesting that we are at war with them is an example of the impact of propaganda on the poorly informed.
FAQ for Person Detection and Edge AI – Wyze
https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-china-45147972
I’m of the opinion that what we’re seeing here with Apple is more in line with the continuation of the ever growing and spreading influences of the military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about in his farewell address, which you can easily research. As a staunch believer in the value of the negative feedback loop in control system theory I think it’s good to have reasoned pushback against the military industrial complex to keep it from running away in open loop fashion. The US must maintain a position of strength and war fighting capability commensurate with current, emerging, and anticipated threats. This capability should not be the predominant driver in the US economy. The US needs to maintain balance and control. Allowing large portions of the US’s industrial and technological might to exclude themselves from direct engagement in the military industrial complex is obviously a good thing imo, even though we pessimistically know that if the occasion arose the separation would vanish, and depending on the outcome, there could be hell to pay for crossing the streams and running open loop.