Two hundred employees of Google’s AI division, DeepMind, have expressed dissatisfaction with the tech giant’s involvement in military initiatives, according to an internal letter cited by TIME.
They have called for the termination of contracts with military organizations. The initiative stems from concerns that AI lab technologies are being sold to military forces engaged in combat, allegedly violating Google’s own policies.
In 2018, the corporation pledged never to work on military technologies. However, in April 2024, it emerged that cloud computing services and AI access were provided to Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
The magazine noted that the letter dated May 16 references information about the use of artificial intelligence by Israeli military forces for surveillance and target selection for bombings in the Gaza Strip.
“Any involvement in military and weapons production negatively impacts our position as a leader in ethical and responsible AI, and contradicts our mission and stated AI principles,” the document states, which was signed by about 5% of employees.
The mentioned principles state that the company will not engage in AI applications that could cause “overall harm,” contribute to the creation of weapons, or other technologies for inflicting damage.
According to TIME’s sources, three months after the document’s circulation, there has been “no significant response” from Google.
The corporation acquired DeepMind in 2014. One of the world’s largest AI research centers has sought greater autonomy from its parent company but has not achieved these goals.
In July, DeepMind trained artificial intelligence to solve complex mathematical problems.
Earlier, the robotics department of the AI division implemented Gemini 1.5 Pro in a robot to teach it to navigate the office and respond to commands.