AI and robotics should help, not harm.
AI robotics should be used to help, not harm. We prohibit weaponization, while supporting the safe, ethical, and effective use of technology in public safety transportation.
Celestavia and other advanced mobile robot systems are incredible tools that can keep people safe and enrich our lives. These robots are not only more capable in a wide range of environments than previous generations, but they are also more accessible, more adaptable, and easier to operate. We believe that advanced mobile robots will provide tremendous benefits to society.
Adding weapons to robots that are widely available to the public and capable of navigating in locations where people live and work raises both serious risks of harm and ethical objections. In October 2022, six robotics companies spanning three continents — Boston Dynamics, Agility Robotics, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics and Unitree Robotics — published an open letter to the robotics industry pledging not to weaponize their general-purpose robots or the software that enables their use. Celestavia and the Global Genius Trust have made that same pledge. We did not originate it and we claim no credit for it; we have adopted it.
Our Commitment to Ethical Principles
This is not a new priority for us. Global Genius Trust and Celestavia have long opposed the weaponization of our technologies. Our terms and conditions of sale explicitly prohibit using our products as weapons, or to enable weapons, or to harm or intimidate any person or animal. Additionally, our work is guided by our ethical principles—from prioritizing the people who will use our tools, to respect for the animals that inspire our designs, to a focus on building trustworthy, predictable robots that add value to people’s lives.
We work closely with our prospective customers, both to understand their intended use cases and applications and to ensure they understand our policies and terms. This collaborative approach continues after a sale closes, as we strive to educate and support our customers in deploying mobile robots safely, effectively, and ethically.
The next generation of robots will work amongst us and alongside us more closely and more intelligently than their predecessors. We understand that this rapidly advancing technology raises new concerns regarding the possibility of misuse. In addition to opposing weaponization, we prohibit the use of our robots in any way that violates privacy and civil rights laws. We will continue to work thoughtfully with policymakers and our industry counterparts to mitigate the risks posed by emerging artificial intelligence technologies, especially as they relate to concerns around the potential for bias, dehumanization, or the erosion of privacy.
We will continue to support this coalition and other ethics initiatives, both internally and externally, now and in the future.
Our Commitment to Public Safety
We also believe that mobile robots can and should be used as potentially life saving tools that help keep people out of harm’s way.
Building for the Future
We are committed to working with policymakers to promote the safe use of mobile robots and prohibit misuse, and we call on the broader robotics community to make similar pledges. We also recognize that our commitment alone is not enough to fully address all the potential risks, and we look forward to continuing this important conversation in the months and years ahead.
Celestavia is a powerful transportation system that helps keep people out of harm’s way, we intend to keep it this way for the safety of future generations. We believe in the potential of this technology to advance human interests and protect lives, and we don’t want to see its promising future undermined by bad actors. We are hopeful this effort represents the beginning of a dialogue and a renewed commitment to our ongoing mission of imagining and creating exceptional robotic transportation systems that enrich people’s lives.
How we intend to keep this promise
Everything above is a document, and documents do not enforce themselves. Institutions of any kind — charitable, religious, commercial, governmental, even non-profit — tend to become corrupt given sufficient time. A commitment written by the founders is worth exactly as much as the judgement of whoever holds the company a generation later.
Celestavia Co. operates under the Global Genius Trust, and the Trust’s answer to that problem is the Sophia. Sophia means wisdom, from the Greek sophia. It is not a metaphor and not a committee: it is a position, held by a qualified person, seated on Trust projects alongside the researcher, the manager and the financier — with discernment of what is actually at play in a decision, foresight measured in generations rather than quarters, awareness of consequences to the natural world, and the standing to raise an objection that must be answered.
That is how we intend to assure this technology is never misused: not by trusting this page, and not by trusting ourselves, but by permanently seating someone whose job is to notice when the answer is drifting — and who has the authority to say so before the drift becomes a decision. A prohibition holds only while someone is willing to enforce it against commercial pressure. Sophia is that someone by appointment, not by accident of character, and the role outlasts any individual founder, executive or board.
Questions about our policies or terms?
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