Over 600 Google employees sign open letter urging company to reject classified military AI contract
Over 600 Google employees have sent a letter to the company opposing a proposed Pentagon agreement that would deploy Google's AI in classified military operations. Citing ethical concerns, the company has a history of canceling military projects, and this time, employees are disputing the expansion of Gemini's use.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 28, 2026 at 09:57
- 🔍 Collected: April 28, 2026 at 10:32 (34 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 28, 2026 at 14:17 (3h 45m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency, Washington, 27th, comprehensive foreign news report) According to a statement, over 600 Google employees today sent a letter to the company rejecting a proposed Pentagon agreement that would allow Google's artificial intelligence (AI) to be deployed in classified military operations.
Agence France-Presse reported that the open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai was signed by employees from Google's DeepMind, Cloud, and other divisions, including more than 20 senior executives, some of whom are vice presidents.
Google is actively negotiating with the Department of War, planning to deploy its flagship AI model, Gemini, for classified operations.
The unnamed initiators of the open letter stated, "Classified work, by definition, is opaque."
"There is currently no guarantee that our tools will not be used to cause serious harm, or to erode civil liberties without public oversight. We are talking about situations like profiling individuals, or targeting innocent civilians."
AI startup Anthropic had previously asked the Pentagon not to use its technology for mass surveillance or automated warfare, after which the Department of War listed Anthropic as a "supply chain risk," leading to a lawsuit from Anthropic.
Many companies are scrambling to fill the void left by Anthropic's withdrawal, trying to become the government's preferred AI supplier in classified and unclassified environments, and Google is one of them.
According to the initiators of the open letter, the proposed contract terms from Google include preventing Gemini from being used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons without proper human control.
However, the Pentagon strongly advocates for AI systems to be widely used for "all lawful purposes," claiming this is crucial for maintaining operational flexibility.
Google employees stated that the proposed safeguards are technically unenforceable, and the Pentagon's policy prohibits any external entity from controlling its AI systems.
Another initiator of the open letter wrote, "If leadership truly wants to prevent subsequent harm, they must fully reject classified content now."
Google has already signed a contract with the Department of War for unclassified areas through a project called genAI.mil, and the proposed new agreement would extend Gemini's capabilities to classified parts.
In 2018, Google employees forced the company to abandon the Department of War's Project Maven, which aimed to integrate AI into drone warfare. The current open letter hopes to draw on the success of that protest.
However, in recent years, Google's strategy has shifted towards steadily rebuilding its military business and competing with rivals Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft for defense cloud contracts.
Google has not yet commented on this. (Compiler: Qu Xiangping) 1150428
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(Central News Agency, Washington, 27th, comprehensive foreign news report) According to a statement, over 600 Google employees today sent a letter to the company rejecting a proposed Pentagon agreement that would allow Google's artificial intelligence (AI) to be deployed in classified military operations.
Agence France-Presse reported that the open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai was signed by employees from Google's DeepMind, Cloud, and other divisions, including more than 20 senior executives, some of whom are vice presidents.
Google is actively negotiating with the Department of War, planning to deploy its flagship AI model, Gemini, for classified operations.
The unnamed initiators of the open letter stated, "Classified work, by definition, is opaque."
"There is currently no guarantee that our tools will not be used to cause serious harm, or to erode civil liberties without public oversight. We are talking about situations like profiling individuals, or targeting innocent civilians."
AI startup Anthropic had previously asked the Pentagon not to use its technology for mass surveillance or automated warfare, after which the Department of War listed Anthropic as a "supply chain risk," leading to a lawsuit from Anthropic.
Many companies are scrambling to fill the void left by Anthropic's withdrawal, trying to become the government's preferred AI supplier in classified and unclassified environments, and Google is one of them.
According to the initiators of the open letter, the proposed contract terms from Google include preventing Gemini from being used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons without proper human control.
However, the Pentagon strongly advocates for AI systems to be widely used for "all lawful purposes," claiming this is crucial for maintaining operational flexibility.
Google employees stated that the proposed safeguards are technically unenforceable, and the Pentagon's policy prohibits any external entity from controlling its AI systems.
Another initiator of the open letter wrote, "If leadership truly wants to prevent subsequent harm, they must fully reject classified content now."
Google has already signed a contract with the Department of War for unclassified areas through a project called genAI.mil, and the proposed new agreement would extend Gemini's capabilities to classified parts.
In 2018, Google employees forced the company to abandon the Department of War's Project Maven, which aimed to integrate AI into drone warfare. The current open letter hopes to draw on the success of that protest.
However, in recent years, Google's strategy has shifted towards steadily rebuilding its military business and competing with rivals Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft for defense cloud contracts.
Google has not yet commented on this. (Compiler: Qu Xiangping) 1150428
Choose to stand with facts, every sponsorship you provide is the power to protect press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency "First-Hand News" APP to grasp the latest news instantly.
The text, images, and audio-visual content on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or utilized without authorization.