Thousands of Google employees asked CEO Sundar Pichai to stop providing AI tech for the US military’s drones
Google has long avoided being part of the military industrial complex, to the point where it seems to have been an unofficial company policy
By Greg Sandoval
Thousands of Google employees have pleaded in a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai to stop providing technology to the Pentagon that could be used to improve the accuracy of drone attacks.
“We believe that Google should not be in the business of war,” wrote the signers of the letter circulating within the company, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.
The signers, who represent a fraction of parent company Alphabet’s 70,000 employees, ask that Google withdraw from Project Maven, a Pentagon pilot programme, and for the company to pledge to never again “build warfare technology.”
On Wednesday, in response to questions from Business Insider, a Google spokeswoman forwarded a statement. “We know that there are many open questions involved in the use of new technologies, so these conversations - with employees and outside experts - are hugely important and beneficial,” the statement read in part.
Last month, Google shocked many inside and outside the Mountain View-based company when it confirmed that it was providing the US military with artificial-intelligence technology that interprets video imagery. According to experts, the technology could be used to better pinpoint bombing targets. The revelation first appeared in a report by Gizmodo.