US chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff urges Google to work with US military, not with China
- ‘Inexplicable’ that US firms have to make comprises to advance business interests in China, Marine General Joseph Dunford
The top US general said on Thursday that it was “inexplicable” that technology giants like Alphabet’s Google did not want to work with the Pentagon even as they seek out business with China, where companies have less freedom than in the United States.
“We are the good guys and it’s inexplicable to me that we would make compromises in order to advance our business interests in China where we know that freedoms are restrained, where we know that China will take intellectual property from companies,” Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during an event.
A Google spokeswoman for China issues did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has previously said the company has invested in China for years and plans to continue to do so, but that the company also was continuing to work with the US government on projects in health care, cybersecurity and other fields.
Earlier this year Google said it was no longer vying for a US$10 billion cloud computing contract with the US Defence Department, in part because the company’s new ethical guidelines do not align with the project.
In June, Google said it would not renew a contract to help the US military analyse aerial drone imagery when it expires, as the company sought to defuse internal uproar over the deal.