"Pichai's pledge regarding weapons was "really strong," Peter Asaro, associate professor of media studies at the New School in New York, told Business Insider. Asaro coauthor a letter to Google's managementlast month, signed by hundreds of academics and researchers, demanding that Google cease developing military technologies as well as calling for a ban on authonomous weapons. Asaro said however, Google's commitment to not build applications that "gather or use information for surveillance" that violates international norms leaves too much wiggle room.
"Who and what dictates the norm?" Asaro asked, noting that such standards differ broadly around the world."