Google lifts ban on using AI for weapons or surveillance, prompting employee backlash

Google employees are up in arms over management’s decision to renege on a promise not to use artificial intelligence (AI) technology for weapons or surveillance, with some employees posting their reactions on the company's internal message board.

The American tech giant Google said on Tuesday that it had updated its ethical AI guidelines, which lay out how the company will and won't use its technology.

The new version removed wording that vowed Google wouldn't use AI to build weapons, surveillance tools, or "technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm."

Google removed language promising not to pursue “weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people,” “technologies that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms,” and “technologies whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”

“We believe democracies should lead in AI development, guided by core values like freedom, equality, and respect for human rights,” wrote James Manyika, Google's senior vice president for research, technology, and society, and Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, the company’s esteemed AI research lab.

“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.”

This marks a significant departure from the company’s earlier commitment to abstain from AI applications that could cause harm or be used for military purposes.

Google says it won't use artificial intelligence for weapons

Google has announced it will not use artificial intelligence (AI) for weapons or to "cause or directly facilitate injury to people.”

On Wednesday Google employees expressed their concern about the new policy through posts on the company’s internal message board, Memegen.

According to Business Insider, one widely shared meme depicted Google CEO Sundar Pichai searching “how to become a weapons contractor” on Google.

Another referenced a popular comedy sketch featuring an actor dressed as a Nazi soldier, with a caption, “Google lifts a ban on using its AI for weapons and surveillance. Are we the baddies?”

Another post showed Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory" asking why Google would drop its red line for weapons, seeing reports about Google working closely with defense contractors including the Pentagon, and responding, "Oh, that's why."

These three memes were among the top-voted among employees on Wednesday. The company has more than 180,000 employees.

Google worked ‘directly’ with Israel on AI services in Gaza war: Report

Google has worked “directly” with Israel and provided the regime with more access to AI services since the start of the Gaza war, says a report.

Google has worked “directly” with Israel and provided the regime with more access to AI services since the start of its genocidal war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, according to a US media report.  

Documents obtained by The Washington Post said Google employees “rushed” to provide the Israeli ministry of military affairs and the regime’s occupation forces with access to the company’s latest artificial intelligence technology from the early weeks of the Gaza war to beat out their rival, Amazon.

The US daily quoted a Google staffer as saying that Israel would “turn instead to Google’s cloud rival Amazon, which also works with Israel under the Nimbus contract,” if the company “didn’t quickly provide more access.”

The tech giant fired more than 50 staff members, who protested the company’s multibillion-dollar Nimbus project with the Israeli regime at its offices in New York and California, with some of them also being arrested during the demonstrations.

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