International Business Machines Corp (IBM) on Monday announced in a letter to the US Congress that it would no longer offer facial recognition or analysis software, calling for new efforts to pursue justice and racial equity, new CEO Arvind Krishna said.
The firm would stop offering facial recognition software, and oppose any use of such technology for purposes of mass surveillance and racial profiling, Krishna said, who also called for new US laws to hold police more accountable.
IBM did not explain the timing of its decision to exit facial recognition development, but Krishna told lawmakers that “now is the time to begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies.”
The announcement came as the US grapples with nationwide protests over the death of a black man, George Floyd, under police custody in Minneapolis, and rising calls for police reform.
“IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms,” Krishna wrote.
“Technology can increase transparency and help police protect communities, but must not promote discrimination or racial injustice,” Krishna added.
Government officials across the country have proposed reforms to address police brutality and racial injustice aimed at boosting oversight of law enforcement agencies.
Krishna, the key architect of IBM’s US$34 billion Red Hat Inc acquisition last year, took over the chief executive role in April.
CNBC reported that IBM’s facial recognition business has not generated significant revenue.
The facial recognition product decisions were made over a period of months, a person familiar with the matter said, adding that the company would no longer market, sell or update the products, but would support clients as needed.
IBM is no longer developing, creating, researching or selling facial recognition products in application programming interface or any other form, the person said.
IBM’s visual technology would be limited only to visual object detection, not for facial analysis and identification, the person added.
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