A group of Google workers has delivered a formal request to company leadership calling on the tech giant to turn down any Pentagon contracts that would involve secret military applications of their artificial intelligence systems.
The formal request, which was sent to CEO Sundar Pichai and includes signatures from high-ranking staff members and researchers at Google’s DeepMind AI division, asks the company to avoid any Defense Department partnerships involving confidential technology applications. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the document.
Staff members expressed concerns that confidential military projects would reduce openness and make it impossible for company officials to monitor how their AI systems are being utilized. “There is no way to ensure that our tools will not cause serious harm or violate individual freedoms,” the petition stated.
The document also addressed wider moral questions surrounding military AI applications. “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 workers wrote.
They added, “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 workplace resistance mirrors similar internal pushback from 2018, when Project Maven sparked controversy over Google’s involvement in helping the Pentagon analyze objects in drone surveillance footage from international operations. During that incident, more than 4,600 workers signed a letter demanding the contract be canceled.
Two months earlier, competing AI firm Anthropic lost its Defense Department partnership after making a comparable demand to limit confidential military use of its technology.
Google has not yet provided a response to requests for comment regarding the worker petition.
