In May 2024, around 200 Google DeepMind employees (representing about 5 percent of the division) signed a letter urging the company to end its contracts with military organizations, expressing concerns about its ai technology being used for war. ai-deepmind-military-contracts-israel/”>Time The magazine reported.
The letter states that the employees' concerns do not relate “to the geopolitics of any particular conflict,” but are linked to TimeReport of The document also mentions reports that the Israeli military is using artificial intelligence for mass surveillance and targeting in its bombing campaign in Gaza, and that Israeli arms companies have been forced by the government to buy cloud services from Google and amazon.
The use of ai in warfare has spread rapidly, forcing some technologists building related systems to speak out. But Google 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 the manufacture of weapons and military equipment undermines our position as a leader in ethical and responsible ai, and goes against our mission statement and established ai principles,” the letter circulated within Google DeepMind said.
As Time The letter from DeepMind staff reportedly urges leaders to investigate allegations that Google cloud services are being used by the military and weapons manufacturers, cut off military access to DeepMind technology, and establish a new governance body to prevent future use of ai by military customers.
Time reports that despite employee concerns and calls for action, there has so far been “no meaningful response” from Google.
