Microsoft prohibits American law enforcement agencies from utilizing enterprise AI tool for facial recognition

Microsoft has made a significant policy change regarding the use of generative AI for facial recognition by U.S. police departments through the Azure OpenAI Service. The updated terms of service now explicitly prohibit the use of Azure OpenAI Service for facial recognition by or for police departments in the U.S. This includes integrations with OpenAI’s text- and speech-analyzing models.

The new policy also extends to law enforcement globally, banning the use of real-time facial recognition technology on mobile cameras in uncontrolled environments. This decision comes in the wake of concerns raised by critics regarding potential pitfalls such as hallucinations and racial biases introduced by the training data.

While the ban on Azure OpenAI Service usage applies only to U.S. police, it does not cover facial recognition performed with stationary cameras in controlled environments. This aligns with Microsoft’s recent approach to AI-related law enforcement and defense contracts, including collaborations with the Pentagon on cybersecurity capabilities.

The changes in policy may have been influenced by the recent announcement from Axon, a maker of tech and weapons products for military and law enforcement, regarding a new product leveraging OpenAI’s GPT-4 generative text model. It remains unclear whether Axon was using GPT-4 via Azure OpenAI Service.

Microsoft has clarified that the ban on facial recognition applies only to the U.S. and is not a blanket ban on police departments using the service. The company has stated that the original change to the terms of service contained an error. The updated policy reflects Microsoft’s commitment to responsible AI use in law enforcement and defense applications.