Google employees petition CEO to reject Pentagon AI deal
Original: Google employees ask Sundar Pichai to say no to classified military AI use / After a report that Google is in talks with the Pentagon, hundreds of employees signed a letter against the idea.
Why This Matters
Highlights growing employee resistance to military AI applications at major tech companies
Over 600 Google employees signed a letter urging CEO Sundar Pichai to reject Pentagon talks for classified military AI use. The letter, signed by DeepMind staff and executives, demands Google block military access to AI models.
More than 600 Google employees, including over 20 principals, directors, and vice presidents from DeepMind AI lab, signed a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai opposing Pentagon use of Google's AI models for classified purposes. The letter states 'The only way to guarantee that Google does not become associated with such harms is to reject any classified workloads.' The petition responds to a report that Google and the Pentagon are discussing deploying Gemini AI in classified settings. The letter references Anthropic's legal battle with the Pentagon over AI guardrails, which has received tech industry support including from Google employees. Microsoft already provides AI services to the military.