“Don’t Be Evil” Is Over. Google Joins OpenAI, Microsoft And SpaceX In America’s Most Powerful Military AI Alliance
In 2018, thousands of employees signed a petition demanding the company walk away from the Pentagon. They won. Google cancelled Project Maven and swore off weapons contracts.
Eight years later, the company just signed back in, and this time it goes much deeper.
According to Business Insider, the US Department of Defense announced agreements with seven AI companies: SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Reflection, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services to deploy their technologies across its most classified networks, with the stated aim of establishing the United States military as an AI-first fighting force.
The companies’ AI systems are now cleared for Impact Level 6 and Impact Level 7 networks, the latter being among the most highly classified systems the Pentagon operates.
Unlike OpenAI, which says it retains full discretion over its safety mechanisms, Google agreed to adjust its safety settings at the government’s request.
The push is being driven by Secretary Pete Hegseth, building on the December launch of GenAI.mil, a secure AI platform already used by over 1.3 million Department of Defense personnel.
The employees who protested in 2018 changed the company’s direction for nearly a decade. The Iran war changed it back overnight.
Like this business-oriented news regarding Google? Read our previous article here.
