By Lee Chong Ming
Publication Date: 2026-02-27 06:04:00
OpenAI and Google employees are warning their companies not to hand over AI to the Pentagon without safeguards.
A growing number of current and former staff at OpenAI and Google have signed a joint petition opposing the use of their companies’ AI tools for mass surveillance use and weapons that can kill without human oversight.
The online petition, titled “We Will Not Be Divided,” invites current and former employees from both companies to oppose what they see as dangerous directions for AI deployment. Signers must be verified and may choose to remain anonymous.
More than 220 employees from Google and OpenAI have signed the petition as of Friday — 176 from Google and 47 from OpenAI.
Google has about 187,000 employees globally as of mid-2025, while OpenAI’s head count runs into the thousands.
The petition said that the Department of War is threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act to force…