In an apparent move to feed its smart-hardware ambitions, Google has bought an artificial intelligence startup, DeepMind, for somewhere in the ballpark of $500 million. Considering all of the data Google sifts through, and the fact that it might be getting into robotics, it’s not completely absurd that they’d want some software to give a robotic helping hand. (Facebook apparently wanted the company, too, and they’ve already made moves to wrangle their own sprawling web of information.) But the other part of this story is a little stranger: the deal reportedly came under the condition that Google create an “ethics board” for the project.

Google has set up an ethics board to oversee its work in artificial intelligence. The search giant has recently bought several robotics companies, along with Deep Mind, a British firm creating software that tries to help computers think like humans. One of its founders warned artificial intelligence is  ‘number 1 risk for this century,’ and believes it could play a part in human extinction.

The ethics board, revealed by web site The Information, is to ensure the projects are not abused.

‘Google has agreed to establish an ethics board to ensure the artificial intelligence technology isn’t abused, according to two people familiar with the deal,’ said The Information, which revealed the news. The DeepMind-Google ethics board is set to create a series of rules and restrictions over the use of the technology.

Ref: Google Buys AI Startup, Hires Ethics Board To Oversee It – PopSci
Ref: Google sets up artificial intelligence ethics board to curb the rise of the robots – DailyMail