Even as reports said that Google had signed contract with the Pentagon, hundreds of Google employees were preparing to stage an ‘internal protest’, a report has said, adding that they called on CEO Sundar Pichai to block the US military from using the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) for secret work. According to a report by The Washington Post, the demand was delivered in a letter signed by more than 600 workers, including many from Google’s top-tier DeepMind AI lab, urging the company to reject all “classified workloads”. The employees argue that once technology is used behind closed doors for secret military projects, Google representatives can no longer track how it is being used.
‘We want to see AI for humanity ’s benefit’
The workers expressed concern that their technology could be used for “lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance”. In the letter, the employees stated that the only way to ensure Google avoids being linked to such harms is to refuse secret government contracts entirely.“We want to see AI benefit humanity; not to see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways. This includes lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance but extends beyond. The only way to guarantee that Google does not become associated with such harms is to reject any classified workloads. Otherwise, such uses may occur without our knowledge or the power to stop them,” the workers wrote in the letter.The protest follows recent reports that Google is currently in talks with the Pentagon for a secret AI deal similar to one recently signed by rival OpenAI.
AI in modern warfare
This is a part of a larger debate over how much control tech companies should have over their inventions once they reach the battlefield. While the Pentagon insists it needs the flexibility to use AI for “all lawful uses,” many remain skeptical.The Google protest also follows a dramatic fallout between the Pentagon and another rival, Anthropic, which asked for a contract clause to ensure its AI wouldn’t be used for mass surveillance or killer robots. The Pentagon responded by removing Anthropic in February after it requested those restrictions, and then later designating it “supply chain risk”. The two sides are now fighting in court over whether the military had the legal right to cut ties.Google has faced a similar kind of internal rebellion before. In 2018, employee protests forced the company to stop working on a project that used AI to identify objects in drone footage. Following that incident, Google pledged that its AI would never be used for weapons or surveillance, the report said. However, the company has recently changed the course. In 2023, Google removed its self-imposed limits on using AI for weapons and surveillance. In December, the company signed a new deal for the Defense Department to use its powerful “Gemini” AI technology, The Washington Post said.