Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Jun 01, 2018
Following outcry from thousands of employees and the resignations of several over its work on drone and artificial intelligence (AI) technology with the U.S. military, Google announced Friday that it would not renew its contract on the Pentagon program known as Project Maven.
\u201cWow. Kudos to all the Google employees who forced the company's hand on this. Google will not renew its contract with the Pentagon on its AI drone program. https://t.co/hR4eXxya7B\u201d— Trevor Timm (@Trevor Timm) 1527878980
The project was meant to assist the Defense Department in analyzing drone footage in order to develop new kinds of drone technology.
The company's contract with the military will not be renewed after it runs out in 2019, said Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene at a meeting with employees. Google also plans to unveil new guidelines for its use of AI next week.
In a letter to executives, about 4,000 Google employees condemned the company in March for its participation in the project, writing, "Google should not be in the business of war...We cannot outsource the moral responsibility of our technologies to third parties."
While the backlash from employees appears to have cooled the company's relationship with the Pentagon, The Intercept's Lee Fang reports that Google "has not committed to forego signing other military contracts dealing with artificial intelligence, according to multiple people with knowledge of the decision."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today! |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Following outcry from thousands of employees and the resignations of several over its work on drone and artificial intelligence (AI) technology with the U.S. military, Google announced Friday that it would not renew its contract on the Pentagon program known as Project Maven.
\u201cWow. Kudos to all the Google employees who forced the company's hand on this. Google will not renew its contract with the Pentagon on its AI drone program. https://t.co/hR4eXxya7B\u201d— Trevor Timm (@Trevor Timm) 1527878980
The project was meant to assist the Defense Department in analyzing drone footage in order to develop new kinds of drone technology.
The company's contract with the military will not be renewed after it runs out in 2019, said Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene at a meeting with employees. Google also plans to unveil new guidelines for its use of AI next week.
In a letter to executives, about 4,000 Google employees condemned the company in March for its participation in the project, writing, "Google should not be in the business of war...We cannot outsource the moral responsibility of our technologies to third parties."
While the backlash from employees appears to have cooled the company's relationship with the Pentagon, The Intercept's Lee Fang reports that Google "has not committed to forego signing other military contracts dealing with artificial intelligence, according to multiple people with knowledge of the decision."
Following outcry from thousands of employees and the resignations of several over its work on drone and artificial intelligence (AI) technology with the U.S. military, Google announced Friday that it would not renew its contract on the Pentagon program known as Project Maven.
\u201cWow. Kudos to all the Google employees who forced the company's hand on this. Google will not renew its contract with the Pentagon on its AI drone program. https://t.co/hR4eXxya7B\u201d— Trevor Timm (@Trevor Timm) 1527878980
The project was meant to assist the Defense Department in analyzing drone footage in order to develop new kinds of drone technology.
The company's contract with the military will not be renewed after it runs out in 2019, said Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene at a meeting with employees. Google also plans to unveil new guidelines for its use of AI next week.
In a letter to executives, about 4,000 Google employees condemned the company in March for its participation in the project, writing, "Google should not be in the business of war...We cannot outsource the moral responsibility of our technologies to third parties."
While the backlash from employees appears to have cooled the company's relationship with the Pentagon, The Intercept's Lee Fang reports that Google "has not committed to forego signing other military contracts dealing with artificial intelligence, according to multiple people with knowledge of the decision."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.