WMHSMUN XXXIV Alphabet Board of Directors Background Guide “Unprecedented committees. Unparalleled debate. Unmatched fun.” Letters From the Directors Dear Delegates, Hello delegates! My name is Katie Weinsheimer, and I am looking forward to meeting you all on Zoom this fall at WMHSMUN XXXIV. The world of international Internet governance and the moral/ethical issues that arise from the introduction of ‘smart’ technology have been an interest of mine throughout my college career, so I am very excited to delve into these issues as your committee director for the Alphabet Board of Directors. I am a senior international relations major from Silver Spring, MD. I am in the St. Andrews William & Mary Joint Degree Programme, which means I am coming back to W&M after studying abroad in Scotland for two years. I joined William & Mary’s International Relations Club as a freshman after doing model United Nations in high school like all of you. I have loved my time in the club and have loved being involved in all of the conferences the College hosts. I am currently the registration director for our middle school conference, WMIDMUN XIX. Outside of model UN, I love reading, traveling, and cooking/trying new restaurants. But enough about me, you are here for stock market domination! As the Alphabet Board of Directors, you are responsible for the financial health of Alphabet and its subsidiary companies. Directors are charged with assessing and managing the risk associated with Alphabet’s various investments. This committee will take place in November 2020. With COVID-19 raging and poised to worsen in the winter months, the Board will have to make tough decisions about current and future investments. There is a national backlash against “Big Tech” and technological monopolies. Most importantly for the Board, data privacy and security are major concerns for the American people. As the Board examines its current and future assets, Directors would do well to consider the financial, legal, and moral implications of their actions. The success of Alphabet as a company is on the line, but so are individual Directors’ reputations. Directors should work together to advance the interests of the Board but having your own connections and plans would serve you well. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Good luck! Katie Weinsheimer [email protected] Background Guide – Alphabet Dear Delegates, Welcome to the Alphabet Board of Directors at our virtual WMHSMUN XXXIV! My name is John Cho, and I look forward to serving as one of your directors. I am a sophomore at William & Mary from Newport News, VA studying Kinesiology and Public Health on the pre-physician assistant track. On campus, I am involved with the Orientation Program, Admissions Office, and Student Assembly. In my free time, you can probably find me napping on the massage chairs in Swem Library, hanging out with friends (socially distant) on the Sunken Gardens, and running on some of the beautiful trails around campus. I attended Model United Nations conferences throughout high school and had amazing and thought-provoking experiences. Though your experience this year will be different, I hope that you will be challenged to think creatively in solving real-world problems and gain meaningful experiences by collaborating with other delegates. Crisis committees are fast paced, shaped by directives from you and your fellow delegates as well as incorporating crisis updates that will change the way you tackle an issue. As a member of the Alphabet Board of Directors and industry magnate in your respective field, you are tasked with weighing a variety of scientific, political, social, and ethical variables to develop solutions. Both tropics rely on you to perform research to help facilitate actions you take. I look forward to meeting you all via Zoom, and please reach out via email for any questions! John Cho [email protected] 2 Background Guide – Alphabet Introduction Alphabet In his annual letter to shareholders announcing the creation of Alphabet, Google founder Larry Page described Alphabet this way: “Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google. This newer Google is a bit slimmed down, with the companies that are pretty far afield of our main internet products contained in Alphabet instead. What do we mean by far afield? Good examples are our health efforts: Life Sciences (that works on the glucose-sensing contact lens), and Calico (focused on longevity). Fundamentally, we believe this allows us more management scale, as we can run things independently that aren’t very related.”1 Alphabet is a holding company for all of formerly Google’s side projects and now Google itself. Each subsidiary company of Alphabet (like Sidewalk Labs, Nest, and Google X) has its own CEO2, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai acting as the CEO for Alphabet as well.3 Page and Google cofounder Sergy Brin led Alphabet from its creation in 2015 until fall of 2019, when they announced they were handing the reins of the conglomerate to Pichai4 (both are still active board members).5 Two companies may be of particular interest the upcoming Board of Directors meeting: Calico and DeepMind. Calico is a biotechnology company that focuses on the science behind aging. Combining medical professionals with molecular biologists and geneticists, the company wants to develop ways to increase an individual’s life span.6 DeepMind, a UK-based company specializing in artificial intelligence, was bought by Google in 2014. DeepMind aims to develop advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to solve problems in neuroscience, medicine, robotics, language and machine learning.7 In one of the most high- profile cases of AI use to-date, DeepMind created a computer program, AlphaGo, that defeated one of the world’s best Go players. Go, a Chinese board game, involves a complex combination of game moves that requires more than simple mathematical calculations. AlphaGo used historical data from games played by humans and interactive play against itself to learn how to win.8 Board of Directors The Alphabet Board of Directors, as stipulated in the Alphabet Corporate Governance Guidelines, meets regularly throughout the year to (1) oversee management and evaluate strategy; (2) evaluate 3 Background Guide – Alphabet management performance and compensation; (3) review management succession planning; (4) monitor and manage potential conflicts of interest; (5) ensure the integrity of financial information; (6) monitor the effectiveness of Board Governance Practices; and (7) select the Chair and Chief Executive Officer as needed.9 Board members are expected to attend all board meetings prepared with the necessary research and knowledge to make decisions on all matters pertaining to Alphabet’s business and financial strategies. Directors are responsible for acting in the best interests of Alphabet and its stockholders, analyzing current and future risk that may jeopardize the company.10 The Board is meeting at Alphabet headquarters in Mountain View, CA to discuss the company’s Third Quarter earnings and make adjustments for Q4. Of particular interest to the Board is the recent scrutiny around private data collection by AI products. Investors are worried that consumer backlash against data mining may sink Alphabet stock. Another issue the Board has been asked to consider is the use of AI and biotechnology in medical practices. There are ethical implications that could pose a major risk for Alphabet if the technology malfunctioned. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Artificial intelligence (AI) is defined as “the concept used to describe computer systems that are able to learn from their own experiences and solve complex problems in different situations.”11 AI is able to become intelligent because it is fed massive amounts of data, usually personal data, to learn about human behavior. AI has the potential to solve major problems in business, medicine and the environment; however, the power of AI raises many questions with regard to ethics, security and legal responsibility. AI is an example of machine learning. It learns from the data it is given, meaning that it self-updates and avoids the technical barriers that previously limited data analysis. But this feat also requires more and more data to learn from in order for AI to learn.12 Data is gathered from an individual’s actions online - social media accounts, websites, blogs, etc. Then, a machine learning algorithm can use the data it gathered to make analytical decisions without human intervention. The idea of AI (1.) mining people’s data and (2.) making decisions based on that data without human intervention gives pause to many people.13 As AI grows, so does its problem-solving potential, but also its opposition. These moral and legal implications should be front on the minds of board members as they confront this issue within the context of the use of AI in consumer products and medicine. 4 Background Guide – Alphabet Topic 1: Artificial Intelligence Use in Private Data and Consumer Products In 2020, every individual will create 1.7 megabytes per second in personal data, with 97.2% of all businesses investing in technology to use that data for marketing outreach, tailoring messaging, and creating targeted content. After scandals surrounding the sale of personal data, like Cambridge Analytica in 2016, consumers recognize their data is being harvested and are extremely wary of businesses accessing their data. Consumer trust that companies will act ethically