The ethics watchdog for Norway’s US$830 billion sovereign wealth fund is taking the unusual step of warning companies against developing the next generation of weapons — robots that do not require human intervention to kill.
The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which invests the income from Norway’s oil industry, is so big that it owns 1.3 percent of the world’s listed company equity. It is required by law to restrict investments in companies on ethical grounds.
It is not allowed to invest in companies that make anti-personnel mines or nuclear weapons, and the head of its independent ethics panel, Johan Andresen, said it would now also be on the lookout for firms involved in development of autonomous weapons, even though the technology is not available yet.
Autonomous weapons select and fire on targets without human intervention. Although their development is in its infancy, some robotics and artificial intelligence researchers suggest it could be just a matter of years before they could be used.
“This is a statement of fair warning, a heads-up,” Andresen said. “If you think about developing technology for recognizing cancer, that is fine, but if you are adapting it to track down a certain type of individual in a certain environment, and cooperating with others to make an autonomous weapon out of it, don’t be surprised if we take a look at you.”
No companies were under examination, said Andresen, as there were none to look at, yet.
The Council on Ethics is an independent body that makes recommendations on companies that may be in breach of the fund’s ethical guidelines. Usually, there has to be a suspicion of a breach for the council to examine it.
It is looking at corruption in the defense, telecoms and energy industries, at workers’ rights in construction, textiles and electronics manufacturing and, beginning this year, at companies responsible for excessive climate change emissions.
Physicist Stephen Hawking, Tesla Motors Inc CEO Elon Musk and Apple Inc co-founder Steve Wozniak were among signatories to a letter penned by artificial intelligence and robotics researchers in July last year calling for a ban on autonomous weapons.
“Artificial intelligence technology has reached a point where the deployment of such systems is — practically if not legally — feasible within years, not decades,” the letter said.
In the US, the Pentagon in December last year said that it would request between US$12 billion and US$15 billion for early work on new technologies, including autonomous weapons.
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
Six years ago, LVMH’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault and US President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. However, since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, “significantly” underperforming other facilities, said three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff. The plant’s problems — which have not
RSS