At Google I/O, the company announced even more components of what could pretty well turn into Skynet. At The New York Times, Farhad Manjoo more soberly ties the protests that interrupted the I/O keynote to fear over Google co-founder Larry Page’s perhaps tone-deaf push for “context awareness,” the ultimate goal of a system that can connect cars, watches, phones, payment systems, and more. Google’s unified health care could help save lives. It could also be completely totalitarian. “Is Google, in its globe-spanning reach, trying to do so much that it risks becoming creepy instead of helpful — the assistant who got too powerful and knows too much?” Manjoo asks.
Will Larry Page’s Google be friendly, totalitarian, or both?
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Most Popular
Most Popular
- How Google’s new Pixel 11 phones compare to last year’s models
- Google’s Pixel 11 series pairs a little new hardware with a lot of new software
- Xbox Elite 3 prototype pad leaks with tiny built-in screen
- This is Instagram’s new logo
- It looks like Apple’s iPhone 18 really will skip the fall launch this year
