Over 100 Google employees focused on AI have sent a letter to company leadership requesting limitations on military applications of AI technology, mirroring concerns raised in the dispute between Anthropic and the Pentagon that resulted in President Donald Trump shutting down Anthropic’s work with the U.S. government.
The New York Times reports that more than 100 employees working on Google’s artificial intelligence technology have formally requested that company management establish clear boundaries on how the US military can use their AI products. The internal letter, sent Thursday to Jeff Dean, chief scientist of Google DeepMind, reflects growing unease among tech workers about military applications of the technology they develop.
The Google employees specifically asked that the company prohibit the US military from using its Gemini AI product for surveillance of American citizens or for operating autonomous weapons systems without human oversight. The letter was addressed to Dean, who leads the company’s AI division.
“Please do everything in your power to stop any deal which crosses these basic red lines,” the employees wrote in their letter. “We love working at Google and want to be proud of our work.”
The employee action comes amid a broader controversy involving Anthropic, a rival AI company, and the War Department. Breitbart News reported on Friday that President Donald Trump ordered that the federal government “immediately cease” the usage of Anthropic’s AI models.
The tensions between Anthropic and the Pentagon appear to be creating ripple effects throughout Silicon Valley’s AI industry. The situation has prompted workers at multiple technology companies to reconsider and voice concerns about military applications of artificial intelligence.
Beyond the internal Google letter, a separate public statement was released the same day Dean received the employee correspondence. This public letter, signed by nearly 50 OpenAI employees and 175 Google employees, criticized the Pentagon’s negotiating approach with AI companies. The signatories called on tech industry leaders to “put aside their differences and stand together to continue to refuse the Department of War’s current demands.” Despite OpenAI employees joining the chorus, CEO Sam Altman signed a deal with the Department of War to replace Anthropic.
Read more at the New York Times here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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