Google won’t renew controversial drone project with Pentagon amid employee backlash

She added that the company, which recently scrubbed “Don’t Be Evil” from its official code of conduct, will share its new ethical framework regarding the use of AI next week.

Indeed, nearly 4,000 of Google employees recently signed a petition asking Google to cancel the project.

According to a report by Gizmodo, Google has decided not to renew its controversial contract for Project Maven with the Department of Defense.

In a recent companywide TGIF gathering, Google Cloud Chief Diane Greene reportedly said that Project Maven was a small-scale contract with the Pentagon that was only worth about $9 million. Greene, according to the report, said the company was reversing its decision to aid the government due to backlash. Google representatives such as vice president Mike Medin and former Alphabet CEO Eric Schmidt sit on U.S. military advisory boards and discuss the use of their technology for major wars and suppression of domestic political opposition. Project Maven focuses on computer vision, and specifically has an “immediate focus” on recognizing 38 classes of objects. For a tech company that heralded itself as one that values the views and perspectives of its employees, Google has worked to reduce protests without pivoting away from military partnerships.

The defence programme, called Project Maven, set off a revolt inside Google, as factions of employees opposed Google technology being used in warfare.

Google reportedly won’t seek another contract for Project Maven, a Pentagon pilot AI program that could be used for drone strikes.

Gizmodo reported Greene’s decision earlier on Friday.

“It would not be appropriate for us to comment on the relationship between a prime and sub-prime contractor holder”, explained a Department of Defense spokeswoman, in a statement emailed to Fox News.

Leaked internal emails also revealed that Google tried to hide the scope of its dealings with the Pentagon.

Gizmodo reviewed internal emails that showed executives viewed Project Maven as an exciting opportunity to expand its work with the military, but wanted to keep the project under wraps because of concern about how it would impact the company’s brand image. “The technology is being built for the military”, the letter read. “As the program grows expect spend is budgeted at 250 M per year”.

Google has been wrestling internally for months with the prospect of military work.