On April 30, the Financial Times reported that Google had told its employees that the company was "proud" to cooperate with the U.S. military and would continue to do so. Currently, the tech giant is facing pushback from hundreds of employees.The employees expressed dissatisfaction with the company's agreement to use AI for classified military operations.
Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google parent company Alphabet, wrote in a memo to employees on Tuesday: "We have been proud to work with the defense sector from the beginning of Google and have always believed that supporting national security in a thoughtful and responsible way is critical."
"Maintaining engagement with governments, including cooperation in the area of national security, will help democracies benefit from responsible technology," Walker said.
Google on Monday signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to allow its AI technology to be used in classified operations.The agreement expands on an existing $200 million contract to provide AI tools to the Department of Defense. The decision comes amid a conflict between Anthropic and the Pentagon. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said he would refuse to sign a deal with the Department of Defense unless the government guaranteed that Anthropic's tools would not be used for large-scale domestic surveillance and lethal autonomous weapons systems.
Walker acknowledged in the memo that Google's AI tools "are not intended for use in large-scale domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons in the absence of appropriate human oversight." However, he said,Google will support the application of AI in the military field, "which is consistent with the practices of other major AI companies."OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI have also reached a similar agreement with Google.
On the day Google signed the agreement, more than 560 employees sent an open letter to CEO Sundar Pichai, urging him to withdraw from negotiations, citing concerns that the company's technology might be used in "inhumane or extremely harmful ways."
Walker defended the decision, saying Google has worked on classified projects for government agencies in the past, including in areas such as cybersecurity, translation for diplomatic events, and veterans' health care.
He also pointed out that governments “already have access to AI technology on an open source basis (including for national security purposes) and have also made extensive use of open source software in their own systems.”
After the agreement was signed, employees opposed to the deal are reorganizing to demand greater transparency and oversight of Google's AI products that will be used in the military, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Google's response to recent employee protests has changed significantly from the past.In 2018, several employees resigned and thousands signed a petition opposing Project Maven, a plan to use AI to improve drone strikes. At the time, Google did not renew the contract and promised not to use AI for weapons or surveillance.
Google said: "We are proud to be part of a broad alliance... to provide AI services and infrastructure to support national security." The company said it is committed to reaching a consensus that "AI should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons systems without appropriate human oversight."