• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

3

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

3

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
ConferencesBrainstorm AI

Google SVP says A.I. breakthroughs are accelerating but that the search giant must be thoughtful about the ‘extraordinary range of risks and challenges’

Kylie Robison
By
Kylie Robison
Kylie Robison
Down Arrow Button Icon
Kylie Robison
By
Kylie Robison
Kylie Robison
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 5, 2022, 11:08 PM ET
Google SVP James Manyika talking to Fortune CEO Alan Murray on stage
James Manyika, senior vice president of technology and society at Google, speaks at Fortune's Brainstorm A.I. in San Francisco on Dec. 5, 2022.Nick Otto for Fortune
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The past couple of years have shown the incredible capabilities of artificial intelligence, as well as its many risks. For James Manyika, Google’s senior vice president of technology and society, that means spending a lot time thinking about what could go wrong.

“These technologies come with an extraordinary range of risks and challenges,” Manyika said at Fortune‘s Brainstorm A.I. conference in San Francisco on Monday, citing everything from A.I.’s impact on the labor markets, to the technology not working as expected, as well as the deliberate misuse of A.I.

During his on-stage conversation with Fortune CEO Alan Murray, Manyika pointed to the many recent advances in A.I. in fields such as biology, mathematics and physics.

“We’re starting to be able to show that A.I. can actually help us make extraordinary breakthroughs in these foundational fields that are going to be incredibly useful,” he said.

At Google in particular, that means using A.I. to improve existing products like search, as well as creating new products that would not be possible without advances in A.I. The Waymo self-driving cars being developed by Google-parent Alphabet are one such example. And a “whole range new products that are only possible through A.I.” are in the pipeline at Google, Manyika said.

Manyika started as Google’s first SVP of technology and society in January, reporting directly to the firm’s CEO Sundar Pichai. His role is to advance the company’s understanding of how technology affects society, the economy, and the environment.

“My job is not so much to monitor, but to work with our teams to make sure we are building the most useful technologies and doing it responsibly,” Manyika said.

One doesn’t have to look far to find examples of the nefarious misuse of artificial intelligence these days. OpenAI’s newest A.I. language model GPT-3 was quickly coopted by users to tell them how to shoplift and make explosives, and it took just one weekend for Meta’s new A.I. Chatbot to reply to users with anti-Semitic comments.

The regulatory and policy landscape for A.I. still has a long way to go. Some suggest that the technology is too new for heavy regulation to be introduced, while others (like Tesla CEO Elon Musk) say we need to be preventive government intervention.

Manyika said that he, and many of his peers, would welcome more regulatory involvement in the field of A.I.

“I think you’ll find that many of us embrace regulation because we’re going to have to be thoughtful about when is it appropriate to use these technologies, how do we put them out into the world,” he said.

While thinking about A.I. is only part of Manyika’s role at Google, it’s a part of the internet company that comes with a lot of baggage. In 2018, many Google employees protested about the company’s A.I. work with the US military. And in 2020, the company was embroiled in controversy after it fired the technical co-lead of the Ethical Artificial Intelligence team, Timnit Gebru, who was critical of natural language processing models at the firm.

Manyika didn’t address the past controversies, but instead focused on the road ahead for the firm — both in terms of the opportunities and potential pitfalls.

“There’s a whole range of things we have to be thoughtful about,” Manyika said.

Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter will examine how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today's executives—and how they can best navigate those challenges. Subscribe here.

About the Author
Kylie Robison
By Kylie Robison
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest from our Conferences

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest from our Conferences

At Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026, Chris Bedi, Chief Customer Officer and Enterprise AI Advisor, ServiceNow; China Widener, Vice Chair and US Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Leader, Deloitte; and Phil Wiser, Chief Technology Officer, Paramount, speak on a panel with Kristin Stoller, Fortune editorial director.
NewslettersFortune Workplace Innovation
This tech CEO fired 80% of his workforce over AI resistance. Here’s what he’s learned since then
By Kristin StollerJune 15, 2026
16 days ago
Courtney Robinson, head of policy and communications, at Akoya speaks on a panel at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026.
RetailBrainstorm Tech
AI shopping agents are coming. No one is ready for them
By Jeremy KahnJune 12, 2026
18 days ago
The head of Claude Code hasn’t ‘written a line of code by hand’ in 8 months
ConferencesBrainstorm Tech
The head of Claude Code hasn’t ‘written a line of code by hand’ in 8 months
By Nick LichtenbergJune 11, 2026
20 days ago
Sarah Franklin, Chief Executive Officer of Lattice, and Francine Katsoudas, EVP and Chief People, Policy and Purpose Officer at Cisco, speak at Fortune's COO Summit with Kristin Stoller, Editorial Director at Fortune.
NewslettersFortune Workplace Innovation
AI disruption arrived 6 years early—now executives are drawing the line
By Kristin StollerJune 8, 2026
23 days ago
Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 livestream
ConferencesBrainstorm Tech
Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 livestream
By Fortune EditorsJune 8, 2026
23 days ago
dw
ConferencesCOO Summit
This CEO has had 6 major jobs in Silicon Valley: How Dennis Woodside built a career on saying yes to hard problems
By Nick LichtenbergJune 3, 2026
28 days ago

Most Popular

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
6 days ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
4 days ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
2 days ago
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
AI
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
By Catherina GioinoJune 29, 2026
1 day ago
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
Commentary
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
By Marc AndersenJune 30, 2026
22 hours ago
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
Environment
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
By Catherina GioinoJune 28, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.