“Don’t be evil,” was a phrase that was once utilized by a sage business.
According to a story by Time, employees of Google DeepMind have signed a letter requesting that the business terminate its relationships with various military organizations. On the sixteenth of May of this year, the document was initialized. The document was signed by approximately 200 individuals, which is equivalent to five percent of the total number of employees hired by DeepMind.
For those who are unaware, DeepMind is one of the artificial intelligence divisions that Google has, and the letter describes how the company’s own AI regulations are violated when military contracts are adopted. The letter was distributed at a time when there were growing worries within the artificial intelligence lab that the technology was reportedly being sold to military entities through cloud contracts when the letter was sent out.
The contracts that Google has with the United States military and the Israeli military purportedly provide for access to services that are provided through the cloud. These services reportedly include artificial intelligence technology that was built by DeepMind. It is emphasized by the authors that the letter is “not about the geopolitics of any particular conflict.” The message does not dwell on any single military group.
The scope of the technology that Google (and Amazon) has provided to the Israeli government through a relationship known as Project Nimbus has been gradually revealed through reporting that has been going on since 2021. This is not the first time that Google employees have publicly protested that their work is being used to serve politically charged military goals; earlier this year, the corporation terminated the employment of dozens of employees who had spoken out against Project Nimbus.
According to the letter from DeepMind, “Any involvement with military and weapon manufacturing impacts our position as leaders in ethical and responsible artificial intelligence, and goes against our mission statement and stated AI principles.” There was a time when “don’t be evil” was Google’s slogan. It is important to remember this.
In addition, the letter requests that the management of DeepMind restrict military users from gaining access to the company’s artificial intelligence technology and establish a new internal governing body in order to prevent the technology from being utilized by future militaries. It has been reported by four employees who wish to remain anonymous that Google has not yet provided a concrete answer to the letter. One of the individuals stated, “We have not received any meaningful response from leadership, and our level of frustration is growing at an alarming rate.”
The revelation from Time was met with a response from Google, which stated that the company stays true to its AI values. In a statement, the corporation asserts that the contract with the Israeli government “is not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.” Nevertheless, in the most recent few months, its collaboration with the Israeli government has been subjected to a great deal of focus and scrutiny.
Back in 2014, Google made the purchase of DeepMind, but they made a commitment that the artificial intelligence technology they acquired would never be utilized for military or surveillance reasons. DeepMind was granted a significant amount of autonomy from its parent business for a considerable amount of time; however, it appears that this has been altered as a result of the rapidly developing artificial intelligence race. The founders of the lab had spent years trying to get more autonomy from Google, but they were unsuccessful in their efforts in 2021.