Google, Facebook's AI group adds new members

A group trying to demystify artificial intelligence with backing from companies like Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft is bolstering its ranks with 22 organizations in total.

New members in the Partnership on AI include:

• Companies like Salesforce, Sony and Intel.
• Non-profit advocacy groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Future of Privacy Forum.
• The list also includes Washington-based consultancy Upturn, which has worked on issues related to how big data collides with civil rights. The ACLU was already involved as a partner in the group.

Why it matters: The new corporate members of the partnership show how widespread interest in AI has become. And the high-level advocacy non-profits joining the partnership shows how AI is on a collision course with questions about privacy and discrimination.