Eric Schmidt is using his Google funds to construct military drones, having long been an enthusiastic supporter of the technology.
Eric Schmidt was appointed CEO of Google in 2001 in order to serve as the “grown-up” in the room while the company’s founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are responsible for guiding the company’s products to their current dominant market position. Schmidt resigned from his position as CEO after a number of years had passed and he had amassed a significant amount of wealth. According to a recent allegation, he is putting his money from Google into a business that is developing attack drones run by artificial intelligence. What could possibly go wrong?
Before the beginning of this month, it was disclosed that Schmidt was working on a new military drone project; however, since the initial disclosure, additional information has come to light. Now that we are aware of it, the startup, which was previously concealed by a number of limited liability companies (LLCs), was once known as Swift Beat Holdings. Swift Beat Holdings was a subsidiary of Volya Robotics OÜ; Schmidt is the sole owner of this company. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Swift Beat has been renamed White Stork, which is a tribute to the national bird of Ukraine. Schmidt has met with leadership from the Ukrainian military on multiple occasions since the beginning of the invasion.
In the most recent report from Forbes, it is explained that White Stork intends to develop attack drones that make use of artificial intelligence to recognize and eliminate targets. There is no doubt that the incorporation of artificial intelligence into a killer drone will cause people to feel uneasy. According to reports, Schmidt is interested in simplifying and lowering the cost of the devices in order to facilitate their rapid production and distribution to military personnel. According to reports, the drones will be able to function independently in areas where communication and GPS technologies have been disrupted by employing artificial intelligence vision to track targets.
The vast majority of influential figures in the field of technology are unequivocally concerned about the creation of artificially intelligent weaponry. When all is said and done, a robot that is capable of making a decision to kill may always make the incorrect choice. On the other hand, Schmidt is positively optimistic about the possibility of artificial intelligence being used to transform military technology.
In addition, Schmidt has been vocal in his support of initiatives that aim to employ drones in military operations. Since the beginning of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Schmidt has published a number of opinion pieces advocating for the use of drone technology. In an article published in the Wall Street Journal in 2022, Schmidt referred to “kamikaze drones” as the most significant weapon that Ukraine had in its arsenal while it is engaged in a conflict with Russia’s numerical advantage. The plans that he had to create such weapons were not disclosed at that time, and he has not disclosed them since. Reports are the only source of information that we have regarding the project, and Schmidt has declined to comment on them.
We are only able to conjecture about how the company would protect innocent people from these murderous robots because White Stork and Schmidt have not provided any official comment on the matter. In light of the fact that practically every robot apocalypse fiction begins in this manner, let us hope that it has a plan.