Google’s investment in Australia’s tech future — a boon for universities or a Faustian bargain?

Last week, Google announced something big and shiny for Australia — a commitment to provide $1 billion into Australia’s digital future, including a new research centre looking at pivotal topics like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and climate technology. Google is good at big and shiny. So much so that we conveniently, measuredly, ignore its transgressions. We want to believe that the big and shiny company is good and is doing good things for our future...

...But it’s important that we ask questions about the influence Google will have on this new research centre and its outputs, and we don’t need to look far to see how Google treats academics and lines of inquiry that it doesn’t like.

Read the full article on ABC Online here.


Subscribe Donate

connect