alt Hacker NewsThe author is not cynical enough.
Do you going around telling people how virtuous you are? No, good people just try and be good.
The slogan was a red flag right from the start.
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At the beginning of Google it meant "we will not be like Microsoft" and it was good marketing.
It was purely self interest don't piss off people so that regulators break our monopoly. Once the monopoly was challenged it became less important.
They aren't cynical, just disingenuous.
Google was providing cloud computing to the DoD before 2017 - there's no real morale difference between providing lower level compute vs providing a higher level AI algo other than giving yourself an excuse by adding one layer of abstraction (obfuscating?).
Very convenient to suddenly decide it's enough after collecting a massive paycheck for 10 years.
That sounds pithy, but a person doesn't need to remind themselves of their own values; a company of 200,000 people does.
Which isn't to say cynicism for these sorts of company charters isn't warranted, just not for that reason.