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Eric Schmidt to head new Pentagon innovation board
- asadotzler 11y ago"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."
- benevol 11y agoThe combination of personal profiles on everybody (Google), soon a massive AI engine (Google) and the military-industrial complex gives me some serious chills.
- pessimizer 11y agoYou worry too much. President Trump will be a wise steward of his new security apparatus.
- astazangasta 11y agoDon't worry, the massive AI engine will be garbage (but seriously I agree).
- _yosefk 11y agoHey, at least if Earth ever needs to fight real-life Space Invaders, Google's AI armed with the Pentagon's hardware should do well!
- zardo 11y agoOnly if it has a few thousand planets to sacrifice while it learns.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- _yosefk 11y agoYou mean space invaders in real life wouldn't behave in the same way as space invaders in the game that DeepMind has mastered? Fancy that. Could this generalize to other areas where AI works on toy examples but fails in the real world?!
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- cryptoz 11y agoI remember when that happened. I will never defend that silly argument, but I do think this was taken out of context. Wasn't he specifically trying to say: if you're going to commit a crime, don't tell Google about it, because then Google will be compelled to help the authorities? So from his perspective, he's frustrated that people expect Google to ignore it when you're doing illegal things and also telling Google about it. Eric Schmidt has a way with words in that he always says the wrong thing - sometimes you can see what he was trying to say, and there might be something good there - but whenever he talks he just fumbles and ruins everything.
- 6stringmerc 11y agoI can follow what you're describing and I think it does have some context possibility. As in, if a person is being investigated for a kidnapping, murder, and disposal of a body and their computer search history has numerous queries for "How to dispose of a body" and "How to clean blood out of the trunk of a Honda" then the self-exposure is really the incriminating factor, not the device or platform used to disclose such things.
- ocdtrekkie 11y agoThe problem is Google cannot have it both ways. They like to act like the data you generate on Google is private only to you, and that Google employees can't see it, and that you're not "telling" anyone, as far as they're concerned. But you are, because they can and do access that data. And pass it on to the relevant authorities.
- fixermark 11y agoIn the large, for most people, those assertions are true. It turns out that there's a wide gulf between "Can" and "do" that a fair risk assessment will, for many people, indicate is a useful place to be. Entire companies are built and thrive in the gap between "can" and "do" on the Internet.
- woodcut 11y agoThat to me sounds like the worst job, from the start he's an outsider trying introduce massive change, but in an advisory role.
- maxerickson 11y agoIt's low risk. Not being able to change the Pentagon from a purely advisory role isn't a real terrible thing for a billionaire's resume.
- harryjo 11y agoSchmidt seems a bit like Bloomberg in that his main interest, now that he has amassed wealth and power, is to use it to hang out with powerful people, more than accomplish anything in particular with them. (For Bloomberg, it was an obsession with becoming British aristocracy)
- JBReefer 11y agoBloomberg was probably the most effective mayor in modern NYC history, and spearheaded the creation of Silicon Alley as well as modern LIC, Williamsburg, and Dumbo. He's a lot more than the "soda ban guy" here.
- wooter 11y agoi would credit private industry for those private endeavours. hes "stop and frisk" guy to me. pure authoritarian.
- n72 11y agoFrom the NYT, May, 2002: "A gasp could be heard two months ago in Williamsburg, home to many gaunt people in tight clothes, when a Bedford Avenue storefront that had long housed the local art supply store reopened as Sam & Seb, the neighborhood's first baby store." It's a real stretch to suggest Bloomberg is somehow responsible for Williamsburg given the artsification -> gentrification was well under way by the time he was elected in 2001.
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- tchaffee 11y agoI've said long ago that Google at one point became a new R&D branch of the US military.
- astazangasta 11y agoEvery large corporation eventually starts sucking the tit of the state. Did you know Disney runs an intelligence service for various government outfits?
- zajd 11y agoSource?
- dragonwriter 11y ago> Every large corporation eventually starts sucking the tit of the state. Every corporation is ab initio a creature of the state.
- BinaryIdiot 11y agoJust like every single, large technology company (yes even Apple) Google participates in plenty of contract work for the DoD. I wouldn't call it an R&D branch though but technically some contracts could be R&D. Edit: not sure why I'm being downvoted; I worked in that space for 5 years. I've worked with many of the cleared employees of these companies on various projects. It's not a big secret or anything...
- mycroft-holmes 11y agoYou're saying something nobody wants to hear.
- BinaryIdiot 11y agoAn interesting point I'm noticing is that almost every time I start to get downvoted for something that is correct and I am able to edit my post to ask why I'm getting downvoted I have observed that: On HN: my original comment is almost always resurrected and eventually positive upvotes. On Reddit: my original comment is buried even faster. I should test using some controls (maybe post something incorrect) to see if the trend continues. My hypothesis is that HN is just a smaller, more niche and possibly better education group due to the content versus reddit.
- shmerl 11y agoIt was his fault that Google killed XMPP efforts and didn't open Hangouts. It had a direct impact on cutting off the majority of my contact list. That's not the kind of "innovation" that we needed. So I don't trust him to make good choices.
- Zigurd 11y agoIt's an appropriate job. Schmidt has always had a more "traditional" relationship to and attitude about government programs in general, long before government surveillance became a hot topic. Sun was a big supplier to the DoD. Schmidt is, despite his occasional odd outbursts of context-free candor, one of the smartest people in the tech industry, and will certainly be one of the people most in tune with what's technically possible and what's reasonable to implement to serve on that board.
- uvesten 11y agoAssange's "When Google met Wikileaks" comes to mind... https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/ https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/
- wslh 11y ago(strong downvotes here) But Google uses HTTPS... Joking aside, Google is seriously helping to advance computer security as a whole (just take a look at their security blog). Obviously, it is not a good idea to have your private life in the cloud. Joking aside #2: could a private company like Google be acquired by US as a key security asset? It seems possible, I found this https://www.quora.com/Can-the-US-government-acquire-private-companies https://www.quora.com/Can-the-US-government-acquire-private-... helpful.
- Thrymr 11y ago> Obviously, it is not a good idea to have your private life in the cloud. That may be obvious to you, but it isn't to most people. Even most people who are uncomfortable with having their "private life in the cloud" make compromises and have large parts of it there.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- rorykoehler 11y agoDo you have a mobile phone?
- lawnchair_larry 11y agoWell that's a pretty dumb move for Google PR and their shareholders. Hard for foreign business to take you seriously on having their back when the US government comes knocking when the CEO is running projects at the Pentagon.
- batuhanicoz 11y agoThat's their former CEO, not the current one. At least as far as I know.
- jMyles 11y agoSundar Pichai is CEO, not Schmidt. Although he is still Chairman.
- bostonpete 11y agoWhy not call him "Chairman" rather than "Former CEO"...?
- jchendy 11y agoMore people probably know what CEO means.
- waterlesscloud 11y agoPerhaps, but the fact that he's still currently part of Google leadership is far more relevant.
- handedness 11y agoBecause the fix is in.
- handedness 11y agoPeople downvoting me–you have a media company which has demonstrable statist bias, crafting a headline that downplays the Military-Corporate Complex aspect of a story that couldn't possibly be any more of a smoking gun. The chairman of Google–a company which enjoys more Presidential access than any other single company–chairing a board at the Pentagon. Hence: the fix is in, something which should shock no one by this point.
- lallysingh 11y ago"Members will draw on their experience in Silicon Valley to advise on rapid prototyping, iterative product development, complex data analysis, the use of mobile and cloud applications and organizational information sharing." So, what the Pentagon's R&D processes can learn from SV.
- myth_buster 11y agoRevolving door?
- ju-st 11y agoPR stunt
- barkingcat 11y agoTo head the Skynet development team.
- robk 11y agoAll of his actions lead me to think he's considering a run for the presidency one of these days. Maybe 2024 after Hillary. They're quite aligned and he'd be a natural Democrat successor.
- mtgx 11y agoHow many corporate Democratic presidents can the US population withstand?
- phunkystuff 11y agoall of them apparently
- cmrdporcupine 11y agoLike Hilary, he seems to have a fascination with Kissinger. Kissinger has been invited to Google for interviews with Schmidt several times, much to the chagrin of a large # of Google employees. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/02/hillary-clinton-kissinger-vacation-dominican-republic-de-la-renta http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/02/hillary-clinton-... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wooGL__-OvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wooGL__-OvA
- joshkpeterson 11y agoDon't be evil.
- ocdtrekkie 11y agoYet another Googler infiltrating our government. Obama's administration has repeatedly positioned Googlers in every open position with any technology relation whatsoever. It's a staggering example of government corruption at work, especially coupled with their continual immunity from legal repercussions for their actions in this country.
- BinaryIdiot 11y ago...what? After working many years in the DoD contracting space bringing in almost anyone from silicon valley who actually knows how technology works should be an improvement from the terrible state it's in now. Why is it corruption when the government tries to get top quality employees to work within their ranks?
- ocdtrekkie 11y agoEric Schmidt's wealth is heavily tied to Google's stock, and he's effectively Google's evangelist who they send to government (ours and others) to convince them to do what Google wants them to. (Usually to pass laws helping Google do business, or to avoid punishment for Google's privacy or tax violations.) It's impossible for him to put the interests of the citizens of our country above his allegiance to Google. This is much like when a government position at the FCC is filled by a Comcast or Time Warner employee or something. The conflict of interest here is amazing.
- BinaryIdiot 11y agoThat's a bit different than your previous post. You simply said Googler's in general which there is nothing wrong with that. Now if they currently have a stake in the company AND are working for the government? Yeah I agree with you. Though I'm not going to lie it still may be better than the current situation. I can't tell you how many times you hear "yeah setup a shell corporation and do this and that and get rich on government contracts". Maybe it's just replacing one corruption for another...
- mtgx 11y agoAnd just like that, out of nowhere, a year later the Pentagon starts buying Google's Atlas robots.
- knorby 11y agoBoston Dynamics was a defense contractor before Google bought them. Despite what was said at the time of the purchase, the continuation that business relationship should be the expectation.
- DanielBMarkham 11y agoDoD needs the help. I wish him the best of luck. Having said that, I'd much rather read something like "Google's Schmidt to head up program X for DoD" Yes, I understand that his unique talents are needed at the top, but frankly you can't top-down optimize something that isn't working in the first place. My preference is to get multiple large programs that serve as an example (and no, the ACA site does not qualify as a large program, at least it shouldn't) and then work on optimizing the system. The way things are, I'm kinda left wondering exactly what he expects to accomplish and exactly how he's going to know that he's accomplished it. "Advisory boards" are the kiss of death in D.C. Could be a prelude for more political activity. In that case, it'd make sense. He'd be a very interesting SecDef.
- justsaysmthng 11y agoI've always been fascinated with how the smartest people end up doing the stupidest things. Only after opening the next pandora's box do they realize how stupid it was to try to open it in the first place, but it is too late by then. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixb7MdeR8yU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixb7MdeR8yU But we never learn, do we... What good can potentially come out of a high tech, nuclear, AI-driven military force, ran like a software company is beyond me..
- daodedickinson 11y agoDefense Innovation Advisory Board AND The Groundwork (Hillary campaign)? We really have to have one person heading both of those, and have him CEO in charge of determining what people get to look at?
- hackuser 11y agoAs Schmidt has vested interests and personal relationships with the Pentagon, will the public trust him with their security in regard to government intrusion? Should they? Contrast this with Apple's current public relationship with government. These public activities may not be representative of what really is happening, but trust is all the public can rely on. Very few can understand the techical issues, and very few of those people have access to the information and the time to analyzse it. However, I'm glad the Pentagon is getting the best help available; the U.S. falling behind in military technology could be an historic catastrophe. Let's not take democracy, liberty, and all their benefits for granted.
- epicureanideal 11y agoGuy who colluded with other high level corporate officers (see techtopus) to artificially limit the salaries of tens of thousands of highly skilled workers, now asked to advise the government on how to do innovation. For purely moral reasons I'd disqualify him from the position. I suspect he'll find some way to leverage this to benefit himself and/or his friends and won't consider any harm to the public. I don't want this guy in this position.
- linkregister 11y agoI think that his accomplishments may outweigh that transgression, which likely affected 15,000 software developers at most. He did manage to help vastly increase Google employees' personal wealth through a meteoric rise in their stock value. In this case, it's probably best to match the malfeasance with the risk. What do you think he is likely to harm within government program management? Edit: my original estimate of 15k was way off base. A subsequent poster has suggested it was a minimum of 64,000, probably substantially more.
- mnglkhn2 11y agoI would say it affected an entire industry. If the salaries have a certain value in SV then everybody else will use those as a signal and adjust their offers accordingly. edit: not really difficult to do, you can compare the salaries per region (averages, median and distributions) pre and post lawsuit.
- harryh 11y agoIt's fine to say that, but finding actual data to support that hypothesis is awfully difficult.
- accountatwork 11y ago> which likely affected 15,000 software developers at most Where does this number come from? When the wage fixing agreement was canceled, Google immediately issued an across the board raise, and compensation has increase very quickly since then. That's 15k software devs right there, not even considering the second-order effects, which are surely non-zero.
- AndrewUnmuted 11y agoThis comes on the heels of Schmidt's most recent email innovation, as published by Time [1]: > If you get something you think you may want to recall later, forward it to yourself along with a few keywords that describe its content. > This isn’t just handy for emails, but important documents too. Jonathan scans his family’s passports, licenses, and health insurance cards and emails them to himself along with descriptive keywords. This is so horrible and wrong - and now he holes himself up in a make-believe position at the Pentagon? Figures... [1] http://time.com/3425368/google-email-rules/?xid=time_socialflow_twitter http://time.com/3425368/google-email-rules/?xid=time_socialf...
- benevol 11y agoTranslation: "If you have private data, please put it on our servers so we can add it to our internal profile we have on you." This is surreal.
- morsch 11y agoThe gallery ("See Inside Google's New York City Office") in that article is hilarious. Conference rooms with themes such as "Subway" (featuring subway map wallpaper and a decorative pipe), "Apartment" (wacky furniture and wallstickers with household appliances, 'for those looking to “work from home” at work') and "Broadway" (red carpet, red curtains, lots of velvet). Build-your-own desks, with as much customisation as you can do in your 2 m2 cubicle. A steel slide connecting the two lounge levels! And, my favorite: 'A green themed micro kitchen emphasizes Google's commitment to sustainability.'
- Cheyana 11y agoEasy on the innovation there Eric. Just help them figure out how to keep a government server from being hacked every 2 hours.
- martin_bech 11y agoI feel a great disturbance in the force..
- codecamper 11y agodo no evil. muah ha ha ha ha ha!
- benevol 11y agoThey have replaced that motto. Which, I suppose, means that they can feel better about themselves now. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil)
- Drakonkyrios 11y agoWhether you think he's not right for the job or not, there has to be some interaction between the private sector and military to debate the best routes for security and innovation. There's not many people who have the experience and know-how as Schimdt, with the other option is the military be completed segregated from the public and completely fall behind. This board will probably be a gold mine for the public sector, because they need some serious help.
- DickingAround 11y agoThis puts the acquisition of BostonDynamics in a new light. They weren't the peaceful people snatching them for civilian use. They were a shill for the military; hiding them inside of something less violent seeming to keep the heat away.
- xiphias 11y agoThere are so many places where effeciency could be improved in governments (healthcare, democracy, transportation, monetary system, law, taxation), and I'm sure Eric Schmidt can do the job by bringing in high-tech culture....still, military is the last place where I would like improvements to be seen.
- whyenot 11y ago> Pentagon advisory board aimed at bringing Silicon Valley innovation and best practices to the U.S. military snark: The US military already know how to move fast and break things. DARPA and the Pentagon have done a tremendous amount to move technology forward, over the decades. But, I personally would feel more comfortable if it were a non-military organization that were in the lead role. Technology should be a means to improve humanity and decrease human suffering. What the Pentagon wants out of technology, at least in a proximate sense, is something completely different.
- yxitcti 11y agoPeople may not want to hear it, but by definition we are devolving into fascism as corporate and government interests become increasingly incestuous.
- dragonwriter 11y agoEven if this was corporatism (which it might be, but corporatism is more complex than that), not all corporatism is fascism -- Mussolini has a quote equating them, but that was trying to piggy-back fascism on corporatism, which had been supported in many non-fascist forms by many institutions (notably, the Catholic Church) long before fascism exist. Fascism combines corporatism with militaristic nationalism and other features. Mere business-government entanglement, even when it becomes corporatism, is not sufficient for fascism.
- xlayn 11y agoI believe big corporations like Google or Apple serve a balance role with the Government; under that assumption serving a position on both sides would represent a conflict of interests.
- ljw1001 11y agobeing evil, it's more of a calling than a job.
- colordrops 11y agoJulian Assange met with Schmidt and his entourage at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and afterwards put his thoughts into an article: http://www.newsweek.com/assange-google-not-what-it-seems-279447 http://www.newsweek.com/assange-google-not-what-it-seems-279... He basically claimed that Google is an arm of the US State Department.
- unexistance 11y agogeo-political crap, few are equipped to discuss this, but it deserves to be up there
- harryf 11y agoThat Google has relationships with In-Q-Tel - the CIA's venture capital arm - is fairly well known e.g. http://www.wired.com/2010/07/exclusive-google-cia/ http://www.wired.com/2010/07/exclusive-google-cia/ That doesn't need to mean there's anything murky going on or that Google is an arm of the US state department. Government invests in technology; that's how the Internet started
- colordrops 11y agoDid you even read the article? In-Q-Tel and their investment isn't even mentioned. He cites dozens of other reasons. But since you brought it up, why do you think the CIA would invest in a tech company?