More than 600 Google employees have signed a letter calling on management to refrain from providing its artificial intelligence models to the US military for classified operations, as the company is in discussions with the Pentagon.
More than 600 Google employees have signed a letter, published on Monday, April 27, demanding that the company’s management refrain from providing its artificial intelligence (AI) models to the US military for classified operations.
According to The Information website, Alphabet’s subsidiary is currently in discussions with the Pentagon regarding its AI. Several company executives are among the signatories, according to a statement seen by AFP.
“In the current state, there is no way to ensure that our tools will not be used to cause horrible damage or infringe on individual liberties, far from the public eye,” commented one of the employees in the statement, whose name was not revealed.
Internal Crisis
The Department of Defense is seeking to diversify its AI as it still relies, for the time being, on Anthropic’s AI, with which it is currently in dispute. In late February, the Trump administration ordered the termination of all contracts with the California-based startup, a decision contested in court by Anthropic.
It then reached an agreement with OpenAI to integrate its models into classified operations, but the process will take several months. Like Anthropic, Google has requested that its AI not be used for mass surveillance in the US or for deadly attacks.
But the government believes that committing to act within the law is sufficient. Google is already a provider to the Department of Defense, but for non-classified activities. In 2018, an internal movement pressured the company to withdraw from participating in Project Maven, which used AI to analyze images collected by drones.
