Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.US) has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense, permitting the use of its artificial intelligence systems for classified military missions, according to a Pentagon official. This agreement was reached against a backdrop of protests from the company's own researchers.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated the contract was signed on Monday afternoon. A spokesperson for Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., confirmed to media that the company has amended its contract with the Pentagon. While many specifics of the deal remain undisclosed, the spokesperson stated it includes providing the Department of Defense with API access to connect directly with the company's software, clarifying that this does not involve any custom development or model creation work.
"We believe that providing access to commercial model APIs, which run on Google infrastructure, through industry-standard practices and terms, is a responsible way to support national security," the spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson added, "We remain committed to adhering to the consensus across both the private and public sectors that AI should not be used for mass domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons without appropriate human oversight."
Both the Pentagon official and the knowledgeable sources requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the contract discussions. This revised contract marks another significant milestone in Google's provision of AI services to the Pentagon. The company has previously faced multiple instances of employee protests concerning the use of its technology for certain military applications.
The most recent protest occurred on Monday, when hundreds of AI researchers sent a letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, urging him to reject the use of the company's AI systems for classified workloads related to U.S. defense missions. The letter stated, "We are Google employees and are deeply concerned about the ongoing negotiations between Google and the U.S. Department of Defense," adding, "As AI practitioners, we are well aware that these systems can lead to the concentration of power and are indeed prone to errors."
In 2018, Google employees also protested the company's involvement in "Project Maven," a Pentagon initiative utilizing AI to analyze imagery from drones, which has become central to U.S. combat operations. The protests led the company to pledge not to develop weapons and other potentially harmful technologies. Google stated at the time that its work on Project Maven was intended for "non-offensive purposes," but ultimately decided not to renew the Maven contract following protests and concerns about the technology's potential for lethal outcomes.
Prior to this latest agreement, the Pentagon and Anthropic PBC experienced a rift earlier this year over the use of AI for military applications. The Pentagon has been seeking to exclude Anthropic and its Claude AI tool from the U.S. defense supply chain and has been actively searching for new technology giants as AI partners.
Previously, Google had secured a deal to provide AI systems to the Pentagon for classified work related to "any legitimate government purpose." Google also withdrew from a $100 million Pentagon competition aimed at developing technology for voice-controlled autonomous drone swarms after successfully being shortlisted. According to records, this decision followed an internal ethics review, with Google citing a lack of "resource allocation" as the official reason.
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