By Beatrice Nolan
Publication Date: 2026-05-04 07:00:00
Google inks a major contract to help the Pentagon use AI. Hundreds of employees sign an open letter opposing the deal. The company’s leadership initially digs in its heels. Several employees resign in protest. As the employee revolt builds, Google’s management reverses course and opts not to renew the lucrative military relationship.
That was 2018. Back then, Google was the Pentagon’s partner on Project Maven, a Pentagon initiative that used AI to analyze drone surveillance footage as part of targeting workflows. And employee backlash not only forced the company to give up on Project Maven, it made Google wary of any projects to help the U.S. defense industry.
Flash forward eight years, and history seems, at first glance, to be repeating itself. Google has followed OpenAI and xAI in agreeing to allow its Gemini AI models to be used inside the U.S. military’s classified networks for “any lawful purpose.” When news of the likely deal leaked, close to 600 employees signed…
