Google is testing facial recognition technology for campus security, starting at site near Seattle

Published

1 year ago

June 26, 2024

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Google is testing facial recognition technology for office security “to help prevent unauthorized individuals from gaining access to our campuses,” according to a description of the program that was viewed by CNBC.

The initial test is taking place at one of Alphabet’s sites in Kirkland, Washington, a Seattle suburb, the document says. Interior security cameras have been collecting facial data and comparing it to images stored from employee badge images, which includes the extended workforce, to help determine if there are unauthorized people on the premises.

Google’s Security and Resilience Services (GSRS) team will use the data to help identify people “who may pose a security risk to Google’s people products, or locations,” the document says.

“There are protocols in place for identifying, reporting, and potentially removing known unauthorized persons to maintain safety and security of our people and spaces,” it says.

At the Kirkland testing site, people entering the building will not be able to opt out of the facial screening. However, the document says the data is “strictly for immediate use and not stored,” and that employees can opt out of having their ID images stored by filling out a form. Google told CNBC that while ID badge photos were part of the test, they won’t be used going forward.

“For many years our security team has been testing and implementing new systems and protections to help keep our people and spaces as safe as possible,” a Google spokesperson said in an email.

Google has experienced at least one notable violent incident in the past. In 2018, a woman opened fire at YouTube’s office in San Bruno, California, injuring three people. The shooter allegedly targeted YouTube because she “hated” the company for blocking her videos.

The Kirkland test lands at a sensitive moment for Google, which is at the center of the artificial intelligence boom and is rapidly adding AI across its portfolio of products and services. Facial recognition technology is particularly controversial because of the privacy concerns around surveillance.

Alphabet CEO: Search uses Gemini's intelligence, and grounds it with what it knows about the world

In 2021, Google proposed new security changes, including fences around parts of its headquarters in Mountain View, California, especially as its construction plans included public and retail spaces. More recently, company executives have cited security reasons for cutting off access to employees after a series of layoffs and protests over the past year.

In early 2023, the company announced plans to eliminate about 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, in response to a downturn in the online ad market and a broader economic slowdown. Google has laid off more employees recently, moving some engineering roles to India and Mexico.

In a high-profile incident in April, Google terminated more than 50 employees after a series of protests over labor conditions at the company and against Project Nimbus, Google’s cloud and AI contract with the Israeli government and military. Employees staged a sit-in protest at offices in New York and Sunnyvale offices.

Chris Rackow, Google’s vice president of global security, told staffers at an all-hands meeting last month that “extensive use of all of our video camera footage” helped to identify employees that the company said were disruptive during the protests and who made their colleagues feel threatened and unsafe, according to audio of the meeting obtained by CNBC.

Facial recognition technology became a big topic for lawmakers in 2020, following pressure from civil rights advocates and national protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd. Amazon, Microsoft and IBM imposed restrictions on the sale of their technology to police.

The following year, Amazon was questioned by U.S. senators about its use of employee surveillance after the company deployed AI-equipped cameras in delivery vans. In April, warehouse workers sued Amazon alleging the company illegally collected biometric data that included face scans. And late last year, the Federal Trade Commission proposed barring Rite Aid from using facial recognition software in its drugstores for five years to settle allegations it improperly used the technology to identify shoplifters.

Security is a costly endeavor for Google not just on campuses but all the way up to the top ranks of the company. In 2023, CEO Sundar Pichai’s personal security cost the company $6.8 million, up from $5.9 million a year earlier, according to regulatory filings.

WATCH: Google, Microsoft announce layoffs

Technology

China suspends some critical mineral export curbs to the U.S. as trade truce takes hold

Published

4 hours ago

November 10, 2025

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China suspends some critical mineral export curbs to the U.S. as trade truce takes hold

Crystals of gallium are seen in a laboratory at Freiberg University of Mining and Technology in Saxony, Germany on 13 September 2023.

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China has rolled back a number of restrictions on its export of critical minerals and rare earth materials to the United States, in a sign that a trade truce between the world’s two largest economies is holding.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said Friday that it would suspend some export controls on critical minerals used in military hardware, semiconductors and other high-tech industries for a year.

The suspended restrictions, first imposed on Oct. 9, include limits on the export of certain rare earth elements, lithium battery materials, and processing technologies.

The export relaxations follow talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30.

Beijing also reversed retaliatory curbs on exports of gallium, germanium, antimony and other so-called super-hard materials such as synthetic diamonds and boron nitrides. Those measures, introduced in December 2024, were widely seen as retaliation for Washington’s expanded semiconductor export restrictions on China.

China classifies such materials as “dual-use items,” meaning they can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

Beyond military applications, these critical minerals are used across the semiconductor industry and other high-tech sectors — sectors at the heart of U.S.-China trade tensions.

Beijing has also suspended the stricter end-user and end-use verification checks for exports of dual-use graphite to the U.S., which were imposed in December 2024 alongside the broader export ban.

China dominates global production of most critical minerals and rare earth elements and has increasingly used its export policies as leverage in trade disputes.

As part of the latest China-U.S. trade deal, the U.S. has agreed to several concessions, including lowering tariffs on Chinese imports by 10 percentage points, and suspending Trump’s heightened “reciprocal tariffs” on Chinese imports until Nov. 10, 2026.

The U.S. will also postpone a rule announced Sept. 29 that would have blacklisted majority-owned subsidiaries of Chinese companies on its entity list.

Technology

CNBC Daily Open: Too early to fret about tech pullback?

Published

7 hours ago

November 10, 2025

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CNBC Daily Open: Too early to fret about tech pullback?

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 07, 2025 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

November is historically the best month for the S&P 500, which gains an average of 1.8% during the period, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.

But the first full trading week of the month saw stocks caught in November rains.

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each lost more than 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed around 3% — that’s its largest weekly loss since the tech-heavy index slumped 10% in the week ended April 4.

A few months ago, tariffs were the shadows that stalked stocks. Now, it’s fears that artificial intelligence-related stocks are trading at prices disconnected from what the firms are actually worth.

“You’ve got trillions of dollars tied up in seven stocks, for example. So, it’s inevitable, with that kind of concentration, that there will be a worry about, ‘You know, when will this bubble burst?‘” CEO of DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, Tan Su Shan told CNBC.

Goldman Sachs’ CEO David Solomon also thinks choppy waters might be ahead.

“It’s likely there’ll be a 10 to 20% drawdown in equity markets sometime in the next 12 to 24 months,” Solomon said Tuesday at the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in Hong Kong.

That said, a pullback isn’t necessarily bad for stocks. It could even present “buying opportunities” for investors, according to Glen Smith, chief investment officer at GDS Wealth Management.

After all, earnings have been “reassuring” despite worries about tech stocks’ high valuations, Kiran Ganesh, multi-asset strategist at UBS, told CNBC. That means the rain might not last and the rally could find a way to run a little longer.

— CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan, Hugh Leask and Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.

What you need to know today

Major U.S. index were mixed Friday stateside. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up more than 0.1%, but the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.21% lower. The pan-European Stoxx 600 lost 0.55%. U.S. futures rose Sunday evening stateside.

China consumer prices pick up in October. The consumer price index, released Sunday, showed a 0.2% growth year on year. It beats analysts’ expectations of zero growth and is the first month since June that prices rose.

U.S. government on track to end shutdown. Enough Democratic senators had agreed to vote for a deal that would fund the U.S. government through the end of January, a person familiar with the deal told CNBC.

Another missed jobs report. The ongoing U.S. government shutdown — which is now the longest ever — means the Bureau of Labor Statistics couldn’t release its monthly employment data. Here’s what economists would have expected the report to show.

[PRO] Stocks that could bounce after sell-off. Using CNBC Pro’s stock screener tool, we found several names that are oversold, according to their 14-day relative strength index. This implies they could be due for a recovery in prices.

And finally…

Fluxfactory | E+ | Getty Images

A global wealth boom is fueling a rise in family office imposters

Fundraisers and fraudsters are presenting themselves as family office representatives, seeking to dupe gullible investors — and then there are also imposters who are in it just for an “ego boost,” several industry veterans told CNBC.

An information vacuum seems to have encouraged imposters. In many markets, genuine single family offices, or SFOs, are exempt from registering so long as they manage only family money. That privacy norm often makes verification hard, said industry experts.

— Lee Ying Shan