San Francisco with robot cops?
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has sparked another controversy in San Francisco after proposing the use of robot cops, driven by artificial intelligence, to fight crime in the city.
His suggestion came at the company’s annual conference, Dreamforce, just days after he shocked public opinion by supporting President Donald Trump’s idea of sending the National Guard to the city.
During a conversation with Brett Adcock, CEO of robotics company Figure AI, Benioff asked whether the humanoid robots the company is developing could serve the San Francisco police. “You’re 500 or 1,000 fewer officers. Why not use robots for some of these tasks, even if they’re not armed?” he said. Adcock tried to dodge the question, emphasizing that his company would not develop robots for military or violent use.
Benioff, however, did not back down, making an ironic comment: “Google used to say the same thing.” He humorously added that if robots become “self-replicating,” they can choose what they want to do, A2 CNN reports.
These statements came after an interview with The New York Times, where Benioff declared that he “fully supports” Trump and is “in favor” of sending the National Guard to fight crime. “We don’t have enough police officers, so if they can be police officers, I’m all for it,” he said.
Local officials reacted sharply. Mayor Daniel Lurie and Attorney Brooke Jenkins emphasized that crime in San Francisco has fallen to its lowest level in 70 years. “We don’t want chaos or tear gas on our streets,” Jenkins said.
After the criticism, Benioff tried to soften his stance, emphasizing that his goal was to secure the city during the conference that hosted 45,000 visitors. He also promised $1 million in recruiting bonuses to the San Francisco Police Department.