Google removes pledge to not use AI for weapons and surveillance

Google has removed a pledge from its artificial intelligence (AI) principles, which previously committed to avoiding the development of AI for weapons and surveillance. The change, first reported by The Washington Post on February 4, signals the company’s approach to national security partnerships as AI becomes more integrated into military and intelligence operations.

In a blog post published on Tuesday, Google executives stated that the update was necessary due to AI’s increasing prevalence and the need for technology companies based in democratic nations to support government and defense clients. 

We believe democracies should lead in AI development, guided by core values like freedom, equality, and respect for human rights. And we believe that companies, governments, and organizations sharing these values should work together to create AI that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security.

Google

The company’s previous AI ethos, enacted in 2018, explicitly rejected “weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly “injury people” and “technologies that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms,” have now been removed from its AI Principles website.

Google updates AI principles for “national security”

Google’s revised principles now state that the company will proceed with AI development where the “overall likely benefits substantially exceed the foreseeable risks and downsides.” The update marks a notable departure from its earlier stance, which emphasized broad ethical considerations and the avoidance of AI applications that could cause harm.

Moreover, US tech industry leaders are seemingly working towards improving the country’s AI capabilities, in order to charge ahead in the technological “cold war” between the United States and China. 

On Monday, Palantir’s Chief Technology Officer, Shyam Sankar, described the AI race as a “whole-of-nation” effort that needs to go past the walls of the Department of Defense, for “America to win.”

For years, Google’s restrictions on national security applications of AI made it an outlier among leading AI firms. Other tech giants, including Microsoft and Amazon, have maintained long-standing partnerships with the Pentagon, but newer AI companies are warming up to military ties. 

Late last year, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, announced a collaboration with defense contractor Anduril to develop AI technology for the U.S. military. Similarly, Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, partnered with Palantir to provide AI services to U.S. intelligence agencies through Amazon Web Services.

Michael Horowitz, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania and former Pentagon official well-versed in emerging technologies, told the WP that Google’s policy change is part of a broader trend. 

“Google’s announcement is more evidence that the relationship between the U.S. technology sector and the Defense Department continues to get closer, including leading AI companies,” he said. “It makes sense that Google has updated its policy to reflect the new reality.”

Controversy over Google’s military and surveillance contracts

In 2023, as reported by CNN, Google let go of over 50 employees following a series of protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion joint cloud computing and AI contract with Amazon to provide services to the Israeli government and military. Executives repeatedly defended the deal, avowing that it did not violate Google’s AI principles.

However, documents revealed by The New York Times in December suggested that Google’s agreement with Israel included AI capabilities such as image categorization and object tracking, as well as potential provisions for state-owned weapons manufacturers. 

According to the Times, four months before signing onto Project Nimbus, Google executives had privately raised concerns that the deal could damage the company’s reputation and that its cloud services might be linked to human rights violations.

At the same time, Google has faced criticism for restricting internal discussions about geopolitical conflicts, including the war in Gaza. Some employees accused the company of suppressing debate while simultaneously deepening its involvement in defense and surveillance-related AI contracts.

On social media, following Google’s updated AI principles, netizens are debating whether the tech startup’s plan is to protect the interests of Americans, or its just a ploy to take the biggest piece of cake in government defense contracts.

“Sooooo….is AI going to be used for US weapons and surveillance or sold to top bidder?” One X user asked.

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