Microsoft stops selling emotion-reading tech, limits face recognition

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2022-06-22 15:30:06

The logo of Microsoft is seen at an office building in Wallisellen, Switzerland December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

OAKLAND, Calif., June 21 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Tuesday said it would stop selling technology that guesses someone's emotion based on a facial image and would no longer provide unfettered access to facial recognition technology.

The actions reflect efforts by leading cloud providers to rein in sensitive technologies on their own as lawmakers in the United States and Europe continue to weigh comprehensive legal limits.

"These efforts raised important questions about privacy, the lack of consensus on a definition of 'emotions,' and the inability to generalize the linkage between facial expression and emotional state across use cases, regions, and demographics," Sarah Bird, principal group product manager at Microsoft's Azure AI unit, said in a blog post.

Existing customers will have one year before losing access to artificial intelligence tools that purport to infer emotion, gender, age, smile, facial hair, hair and makeup.