More than 600 Google employees have signed a letter, published on Monday, demanding that the company’s leadership refrain from providing its artificial intelligence (AI) models to the US military for classified operations. According to The Information, the Alphabet 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.
No mass surveillance in the US or lethal attacks
“There is no way to ensure that our tools will not be used to cause horrible damage or infringe on individual liberties, away from public scrutiny,” commented one employee, whose name was not disclosed, in the statement.
The Department of Defense is looking to diversify its AI as it currently relies on Anthropic’s AI, with which it is currently in dispute.
In late February, the Trump administration terminated all contracts with the California start-up, a decision that Anthropic is challenging in court.
It then reached an agreement with OpenAI to incorporate its models into classified operations, but the process will take several months.
Like Anthropic, Google has stipulated that its AI cannot be used for mass surveillance in the US or lethal attacks.
However, the government believes that it is sufficient for Google to commit to act within the boundaries of the law. Google is already a provider to the Department of Defense, but for non-classified activities.
In 2018, an internal movement led the company to withdraw from participating in Project Maven, which used AI to analyze images collected by drones.
