Sony has established a set of ethical guidelines for handling artificial intelligence technologies, following the lead of Google and Microsoft. "Sony has to show a clear standpoint on the technology," said Hiroaki Kitano, chief executive at Sony Computer Science Laboratories. AI has become crucial to businesses in many industries, especially for the development of new products and services. But using the technology to process vast amounts of data, often including customers' personal information, raises a number of ethical concerns. Google in June disclosed its guidelines on AI, which detail policies such as not pursuing "technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm," such as weapons.