SEATTLE — Amazon said on Wednesday that it was putting a one-year pause on letting police use its facial recognition tool, Rekognition. The artificial intelligence software has been criticized for misidentifying African-Americans and other people of color.
In a two-paragraph blog post, the company said it hoped the moratorium “might give Congress enough time to put in place appropriate rules” for the ethical use of facial recognition.
In the past, Amazon had said its tools were accurate but were improperly used by researchers.
Earlier this week, IBM said it would stop selling facial recognition products, and last year the leading maker of police body cameras banned the use of facial recognition on its products at the recommendation of its independent ethics board.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.