<![CDATA[The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove.]]>The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. Paul Buchheit, the engineer who later built Gmail, suggested the phrase at a Google corporate values meeting on July 19, 2001.

Then in early 2018, internal documents leaked showing that Google had signed a Pentagon contract to build AI to analyze drone footage. By April, over 3,000 Google employees had signed a letter to Sundar Pichai demanding the contract be cancelled.

The letter specifically cited "Don't be evil" as the standard the company was failing to meet. Dozens of engineers resigned in protest.

Sometime between late April and early May, the slogan disappeared from the code of conduct's preface.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/4cc83ebf-bc68-4180-93fd-bb73586ceeb7/the-man-who-wrote-don-t-be-evil-said-he-chose-it-specifically-so-it-would-be-hard-to-remove.RSS for NodeWed, 03 Jun 2026 21:28:58 GMTSat, 30 May 2026 15:10:01 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:57:30 GMT]]>@JackMexa4 hmmm, possibly, though I suspect it's more along the lines of...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665761811063960https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665761811063960Sat, 30 May 2026 21:57:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:53:33 GMT]]>@riggbeck True, though that might have been too on the nose even for them

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665746305539072https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665746305539072Sat, 30 May 2026 21:53:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:46:54 GMT]]>@ccll πŸ’―

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665720145295266https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665720145295266Sat, 30 May 2026 21:46:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:46:21 GMT]]>@reallylazybear Yes, for a while there they really seemed to be a benign company where workers were having fun serving their users... then Alphabet took over 😭

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665717999781178https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665717999781178Sat, 30 May 2026 21:46:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:44:07 GMT]]>@SteveInVentura πŸ‘πŸ½

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665709191883887https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665709191883887Sat, 30 May 2026 21:44:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:43:35 GMT]]>@oldclumsy_nowmad @js That tracks, he was the executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 2017. I think we can safely say Eric Schmidt chose 'evil' 😳

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665707100783340https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665707100783340Sat, 30 May 2026 21:43:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:39:37 GMT]]>@EricLawton apparently not 😬

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665691516785699https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665691516785699Sat, 30 May 2026 21:39:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:38:52 GMT]]>@eobet Absolutely, Professor of Economics, Justin Wolfers, explains what happens when we let people or corporations, become too rich/too big... it all becomes about power.

"Economists call this diminishing marginal utility. The first dollars change your life. The billionth doesn't. So the argument stops being about consumption and starts being about power."

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665688559808112https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665688559808112Sat, 30 May 2026 21:38:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:35:38 GMT]]>@weldon Yes, and apparently, even that low bar was a standard too high for Google

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665675842237778https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665675842237778Sat, 30 May 2026 21:35:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 21:33:23 GMT]]>@NicelyManifest yes, and that reminds me of this bit by comedian Joe Fenti, that makes the point beautifully...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665666990483882https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/dbattistella/statuses/116665666990483882Sat, 30 May 2026 21:33:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 20:20:52 GMT]]>@dbattistella The implication being: The new motto is "Go ahead, be evil."

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/strawhousepig/statuses/116665381866011092https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/strawhousepig/statuses/116665381866011092Sat, 30 May 2026 20:20:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 19:46:50 GMT]]>@dbattistella

The clearest illustration of who they once were and what they've unfortunately become.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.sdf.org/users/mmiasma/statuses/116665248032088566https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.sdf.org/users/mmiasma/statuses/116665248032088566Sat, 30 May 2026 19:46:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 19:35:32 GMT]]>@dbattistella google mwuahahahaps

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://kolektiva.social/users/neotheluddite/statuses/116665203611182854https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://kolektiva.social/users/neotheluddite/statuses/116665203611182854Sat, 30 May 2026 19:35:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 19:07:19 GMT]]>@dbattistella They also promised to preserve the 1st column research results.

But ads crept in and then search results were geared not to search but paying matters.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115627417809417107/statuses/116665092617112294https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115627417809417107/statuses/116665092617112294Sat, 30 May 2026 19:07:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 19:01:05 GMT]]>@dbattistella

βœ… Our collective, quarterly GOOG reminder: β€œDon’t be evil” establishes the lowest possible ethical standard.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.io/users/weldon/statuses/116665068136417390https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.io/users/weldon/statuses/116665068136417390Sat, 30 May 2026 19:01:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 19:00:06 GMT]]>@dbattistella ...well makes sense they've done plenty of not so swell things even before that. Just updating the code of conduct based off their past experiences. πŸ˜›

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://famichiki.jp/ap/users/116660834508458987/statuses/116665064227860659https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://famichiki.jp/ap/users/116660834508458987/statuses/116665064227860659Sat, 30 May 2026 19:00:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 18:44:11 GMT]]>@dbattistella I think we can learn from this that once a corporation grows large enough, it will inevitably do evil.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/eobet/statuses/116665001703055833https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/eobet/statuses/116665001703055833Sat, 30 May 2026 18:44:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 18:19:27 GMT]]>@dbattistella Google can have a little evil... as a treat!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://ioc.exchange/users/vt52/statuses/116664904407947977https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://ioc.exchange/users/vt52/statuses/116664904407947977Sat, 30 May 2026 18:19:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 18:15:19 GMT]]>@dbattistella

It wasn't too hard to remove the "Don't".

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://kolektiva.social/users/EricLawton/statuses/116664888159535458https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://kolektiva.social/users/EricLawton/statuses/116664888159535458Sat, 30 May 2026 18:15:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 17:48:12 GMT]]>@dbattistella "In the future, Google is still the best search engine, but it has enslaved about half of the world."
So the Simpsons were wrong 20 years ago. Google is not the best search engine and it has enslaved more than half of the world...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115465199009917356/statuses/116664781520365874https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115465199009917356/statuses/116664781520365874Sat, 30 May 2026 17:48:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 17:47:03 GMT]]>@js @dbattistella

A quick search for 'eric schmidt commonwealth club' just brought up a photo of Schmidt dated 2013 June 04, titled "CA: Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt Speaks At San Francisco's Commonwealth Club".

Fits my (imprecise) recollection of the timing.

https://www.gettyimages.ca/search/2/image?groupbyevent=true&family=editorial&phrase=googles%20executive%20chairman%20eric%20schmidt%20speaks%20at%20san%20francisco%20commonwealth%20club&sort=mostpopular

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/oldclumsy_nowmad/statuses/116664777042172969https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/oldclumsy_nowmad/statuses/116664777042172969Sat, 30 May 2026 17:47:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 17:42:55 GMT]]>@dbattistella Well, Google confirmed it themselves: They are indeed evil.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/ap/users/116213669892773543/statuses/116664760735127680https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/ap/users/116213669892773543/statuses/116664760735127680Sat, 30 May 2026 17:42:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 17:40:56 GMT]]>@dbattistella I don’t invest in any US stock mutual funds specifically to avoid google and Facebook stock. Between that and the craziness of the present US administration, most of our retirement investments are now overseas.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sfba.social/users/SteveInVentura/statuses/116664752938683668https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sfba.social/users/SteveInVentura/statuses/116664752938683668Sat, 30 May 2026 17:40:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. on Sat, 30 May 2026 17:36:15 GMT]]>@js @dbattistella

That could be right.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/oldclumsy_nowmad/statuses/116664734546064398https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/oldclumsy_nowmad/statuses/116664734546064398Sat, 30 May 2026 17:36:15 GMT