Google DeepMind Employees Call for End to Military Contracts

In May 2024, about 200 Google DeepMind employees (representing about 5 percent of the division) signed a letter calling on the company to end its contracts with military organizations, expressing concerns that its AI technology was being used in warfare, Time the magazine reported.

The letter states that the employees’ concerns do not relate to the “geopolitics of any particular conflict,” but includes a reference to TimeReporting regarding Google’s defense contract with the Israeli military, known as Project Nimbus. The letter also pointed to reports that the Israeli military is using AI for mass surveillance and targeting in its bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip, and that Israeli defense companies have been required by the government to purchase cloud services from Google and Amazon.

The employ of AI in war has spread rapidly, forcing some technologists who build related systems to speak out. But Google has also made a specific commitment: When it acquired DeepMind in 2014, the lab’s leaders demanded that its AI technology never be used for military or surveillance purposes.

“Any involvement in military and weapons production impacts our position as a leader in ethical and responsible AI and is contrary to our mission and established AI principles,” reads the letter circulating within Google DeepMind.

How Time According to the sources, the letter from DeepMind employees calls on the company’s management to investigate allegations that Google’s cloud services are being used by the military and weapons manufacturers, to cut off the military’s access to DeepMind’s technology, and to establish a fresh governing body to prevent future employ of AI by military customers.

Time reports that despite employee concerns and calls for action, there has been “no meaningful response” from Google to date.