"Peter Asaro, vice chairman of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, said this week that Google's backing off from the project was good news because it slows down a potential AI arms race over autonomous weapons systems. What's more, letting the contract expire was fundamental to Google's business model, which relies on gathering mass amounts of user data, he said.
"They're a company that's very much aware of their image in the public conscious," he said. "They want people to trust them and trust them with their data.""