Google Is Helping Government Build an AI-Powered Border Surveillance System

Remember the guys who found a way to turn your personal information into cold hard cash? It brings us no pleasure to report that they're now expanding into the border surveillance industry. Google, once a company that simply tracked your every move to serve targeted ads, is now a key player in the US Customs and Border Patrol's (CBP) AI surveillance system, according to new reporting by The Intercept. The tech giant makes up the core of a multi-company venture to modernize the CBP's surveillance monitoring towers, a project started by Donald Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden. Under the agreement, Google is providing CBP with its cloud computing program, the ModulAr Cloud Platform Environment — which for reasons beyond us is abreviated to MAGE — and which serves as the hub connecting Equitus AI and IBM's Maximo Visual Inspection software, according to The Intercept. The project is primarily focused on saddling cameras in and around Tucson with AI capabilities, though more experimental r ... Read full article.