Following a report that Google is negotiating with the Pentagon, over 600 employees signed a letter opposing the move. The letter, addressed to CEO Sundar Pichai, urged Google to prevent the Pentagon from utilizing its AI models for classified purposes, as reported by the Washington Post. The letter’s organizers noted that many signatories are from Google’s DeepMind AI lab, including more than 20 principals, directors, and vice presidents.
The letter states, “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.” This comes as Anthropic is in a legal battle with the Pentagon over its classification as a “supply chain risk” after refusing to loosen restrictions on the military’s use of its AI. The tech industry, including Google employees, has shown support for Anthropic.
The letter addresses a report from The Information, which revealed Google and the Pentagon are in talks for deploying its Gemini AI in classified settings. Microsoft has already secured deals for providing AI in such environments, and OpenAI announced a revised agreement with the Pentagon in February.