It sounds like you see no problem with selectively manipulating the English language to drum up support for legal outcomes "absolutely want" to happen, then.
You might want to think about what the basic definition of "journalism" is, then. And how maintaining a relentlessly detailed, universally accessible dossier on the 1 percent of the population that qualifies as truly notable persons (such as politicians or notorious criminals) -- i.e. what traditional "journalists" do -- is in fact, quite different from ...
maintaining such a dossier on everyone, which is what Google does.
(1) This is probably a project by a small "research" group at Facebook.
With blessings from on high, no doubt.
(2) According to the article, the project was never actually started.
Oh yes it was -- the FB spokesperson said it was in the "planning stages". That's quite definitely a form of "starting" (especially for large companies).
If a local waste disposal company were to acknowledge that it was in the "planning" stages of, say, a major incineration facility on that vacant lot down the street your kids used to play in... you wouldn't say this was "a bit of a non-story", now would you?
The problem with this thinking is that Google is not in the "business of war" but in the business of artificial intelligence.
Sorry, but this just spin. If you create product X specifically designed for and marketed to vertical market Y... then you're in the business of Y, period.
Not even Google's own product people would pretend to believe otherwise.
"Victim's family agrees to gag order in fatal self-driving vehicle accident" would have been a better title.
The terms of the settlement were not given. The law firm representing Herzberg’s daughter and husband, whose names were not disclosed, said they would have no further comment on the matter as they considered it resolved.