Time September 16, 2019
Microsoft’s Brad Smith
is trying to restore
public faith in Big Tech
By Romesh Ratnesar/
Redmond, Wash.
inside a sunny conference room on The
Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash., a small team
of employees is describing how technology can save
the world. From technology. Microsoft’s Digital Di-
plomacy unit consists of two dozen policy experts
who work on everything from the ethical use of arti-
ficial intelligence to protecting the 2020 presidential
election from foreign cyber interference. Brad Smith,
Microsoft’s president, sits in the middle of the table,
sipping coffee from a mug bearing the name of his
hometown, Appleton, Wis.
The group updates Smith on a tech-industry initia-
tive co-founded by Microsoft to combat terrorist mes-
saging on the Internet. Smith pushes for more ideas.
“We need something that will create a new mold,” he
says. A few minutes later, he gets a demo of Election-
Guard, a new encrypted voting system developed by
Microsoft’s engineers. “How close are we to getting
a state to pilot this?” When he’s told the technology
may be tested in local elections early next year, Smith
pounds his fist and leaps out of his chair in excitement.
>
Smith has assumed
the role of unofficial
global ambassador
for the tech industry
T RUST
Technology
PHOTOGRAPH BY
IAN ALLEN FOR TIME
22
