Google employees have signed a petition opposing the use of the company’s artificial intelligence models for classified operations by the U.S. military, raising concerns about surveillance and potential harm.
The petition, which includes several executives and employees from Google’s DeepMind AI lab and is addressed to CEO Sundar Pichai, urges the company not to enter into agreements with the Department of Defense involving the secret use of its technology. A copy of the letter was seen by The Washington Post.
Employees warned that secrecy would limit transparency and prevent company representatives from understanding how their tools are being implemented. “There is no way to guarantee that our tools will not cause serious harm or violate personal freedoms,” the petition states.
The letter also outlined broader ethical concerns regarding the military use of artificial intelligence. “We want AI to benefit humanity. We do not want AI to be used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways, including but not limited to lethal autonomous weapons or mass surveillance,” the workers wrote.
It added, “The only way Google can ensure that it does not engage in such harm is by rejecting sensitive workloads. Otherwise, such use may occur without our knowledge or authority to prevent it.”
The move reflects internal opposition in 2018 when Project Maven sparked a backlash over Google’s role in helping the Department of Defense identify objects in drone footage flying across the U.S. border. At the time, more than 4,600 employees signed a petition calling for the termination of their contracts with the government.
Two months ago, rival AI company Anthropic received a similar request to limit sensitive uses of its technology, which was withdrawn by the Pentagon.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the petition.
