Company will no longer offer facial recognition software: IBM CEO Arvind Krishna

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said on Monday that the company will stop offering facial recognition software and called for a “national dialogue” on the way technology is used for law enforcement.

Krishna unveiled the change in a letter to a few important members of US Congress in which he called for major policing reforms in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

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He said in the letter addressed to Congress leaders, “IBM no longer offers general purpose IBM facial recognition or analysis software. 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 also said it was time to, “begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies.”

The letter did not completely include the broad impact of killing of George Floyd, which sparked global protests against police abuse in the United States.

Krishna said that the tech giant hoped to help Congress to form new policies to hold police, “more accountable for misconduct.” He cited several proposals that other organisations had submitted, like modifying, “the qualified immunity doctrine that prevents individuals from seeking damages when police violate their constitutional rights.”