Hundreds of Google employees have urged CEO Sundar Pichai to reject the use of the company's artificial intelligence (AI) technology in covert operations involving the Pentagon.
In an open letter, a group of employees directly involved in the development of the AI system voiced concerns about ongoing negotiations between Google and the US Department of Defense.
They believe the technology is not suitable for high-profile, potentially high-risk workloads.
The employees involved insist that their close proximity to the development of AI technology creates a responsibility to prevent its use in unethical or dangerous ways.
They also warn that the use of AI in a military context could open the door to risky applications such as autonomous weapons and large-scale surveillance.
So far, neither Google nor the Pentagon has provided any official response to media reports regarding the protest.
The main concerns of the employees focus on the potential misuse of AI technology in military operations that could have serious humanitarian implications, thus damaging Google's reputation and global position as a technology leader.
According to a report by The Information, Google is currently in the early stages of negotiations for a deal involving the use of AI for classified tasks under the US Department of Defense.
In a related development, OpenAI previously reached an agreement with the Pentagon stipulating that its technology would not be used for large-scale domestic surveillance or operating autonomous weapons systems.
