Tim Cook: ‘Keep tech Companies Responsible for the Chaos.’ Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that tech companies should take much more responsibility for the problems that result from their innovations.
Cook thinks tech companies are running away too efficiently if someone holds them responsible for the downside of technological developments,
he said during a speech at Stanford University.
“The tech industry has recently become known for anything but important innovation:
the belief that you can take credit without taking responsibility,” said Apple CEO.
Discomfort
According to Cook, too many managers at tech companies think that everything is allowed, as long as their intentions are real.
“But it is up to you, whether you like it or not: you are defined by what you build.”
With his speech, Cook agreed with a wider shared unease about what the Silicon Valley innovations mean for our privacy and democracy.
Facebook, in particular, has become embroiled in numerous scandals in recent years.
According to critics, CEO Zuckerberg often reacted too slowly to the problems.
The Facebook founder found fake news and disinformation initially hardly an issue.
“It seems a bit strange that someone still has to say this, but if you build a chaos factory,
you can’t say you are not responsible for the chaos,” Cook said during his Stanford speech.
Blood drop
Without naming companies by name, the Apple chief gave a list of things that have gone wrong in recent years:
data leaks, privacy violations, hate speech, fake news and “the fake miracles in exchange for a blood drop.”
That last comment is an apparent reference to Theranos: the startup that promised a revolutionary new method for testing blood,
but which in reality only sold hot air.
Spicy detail: Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who has since been charged with fraud,
was so obsessed with Apple founder Steve Jobs that she even copied his clothing style (including black turtleneck).
