Tech firms and AI farming tools ‘playing with the food system’, warns thinktank

Google, Microsoft and Amazon among companies using algorithms and AI to influence what crops are grown and how, say critics

Tech companies and industrial agriculture are playing with the food system" by using AI and algorithms to undermine farmers in choosing what the world eats, leading food security experts have warned.

Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and Alibaba are working with industrial agriculture firms to influence what crops are grown and how, according to a report by the thinktank International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food).