The US Department of War recently announced a deal with seven technology companies to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) tools on classified military networks. The Pentagon named SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, Nvidia, Reflection, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services as participants.
Google Employee Expresses Discontent
However, a Google employee is unhappy with the deal and said he is “ashamed” of the company’s involvement with the Pentagon project. It's important to note that Google is not the only company to sign the Pentagon deal that will allow these companies to run AI systems on Impact Level (IL) 6 and IL7 networks, which are used for classified intelligence and national security operations.
The Pentagon said, “Together, the War Department and these strategic partners share the conviction that American leadership in AI is indispensable to national security.”
Why Google DeepMind Employee Andrew Kirsch Criticized Google’s Involvement
Following the announcement, Andreas Kirsch, a research scientist at Google DeepMind, publicly criticised the decision. In a post on X, he wrote, “I'm speechless at Google signing a deal to use our AI models for classified tasks. Frankly, it is shameful. I personally feel incredibly ashamed right now to be Senior Research Scientist at Google DeepMind and I wonder how I'm supposed to do my work today.”
Apart from Kirsch, 600 Google employees had earlier signed a letter urging CEO Sundar Pichai to avoid such agreements. Along with the X post, Kirsch told Business Insider that he was disappointed with Google’s decision to move forward with the Pentagon deal.
In a text message sent to the publication, Kirsch wrote, “When I went to bed yesterday, I was hopeful that the employee letter would have an effect and give us pause to consider. This morning I woke up to a worst-case version of the contract being signed by Google in the meantime. It's a shame that one of the biggest and brightest tech companies avoided having an honest discussion about this when regulations and laws haven't had time to catch up yet, and is not willing to take a stand when it wouldn't cost it much given the size of the contract vs its overall revenue and profits. I personally feel incredibly ashamed right now to be Senior Research Scientist at Google DeepMind and I wonder how I'm supposed to do my work today.”
Google’s Response
In response, Google said the classified work is part of an amendment to an existing contract with the Pentagon. A company spokesperson told Business Insider, “We support government agencies across both classified and non-classified projects, applying our expertise to areas like logistics, cybersecurity, diplomatic translation, fleet maintenance, and the defense of critical infrastructure.”
“We remain committed to the private and public sector consensus that AI should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry without appropriate human oversight,” the company added.
