Last month, a press leak revealed that  Google has been working with the U.S. Department of Defense on a drone  program called “Project Maven,” which is being developed to scan images  in drone footage and identify targets. Prior to it being reported in the news, this project was unknown to  most Google employees, even those who were working on different aspects  of the project. 

The company was so secretive about the project and kept their  employees so compartmentalized, that thousands of talented engineers had  no clue that they were aiding a war effort. 

Now, many of those  employees are speaking out, and demanding that the company cancel its  work on the controversial program. This week, a letter that was signed by over 3,100 Google employees,  addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, stated that they did not want to  be involved “in the business of war.” The letter reads: 

We believe that Google should not be in the business of  war. Therefore we ask that Project Maven be cancelled, and that Google  draft, publicize and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google  nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology. Google is  implementing Project Maven, a customized AI surveillance engine that  uses “Wide Area Motion Imagery” data captured by US Government drones to  detect vehicles and other objects, track their motions, and provide  results to the Department of Defense. Recently, Googlers voiced concerns  about Maven internally. Amid growing fears of bias ed and weaponized AI, Google is already  struggling to keep the public’s trust. By entering into this contract,  Google will join the ranks of companies like Palantir, Raytheon, and  General Dynamics. The argument that other firms, like Microsoft and  Amazon, are also participating doesn’t make this any less risky for  Google. Google’s unique history, its motto Don’t Be Evil , and its direct  reach into the lives of billions of users set it apart. We cannot  outsource the moral responsibility of our technologies t o third parties  . Google’s stated values make this clear: Every one of our users is  trusting us. Never jeopardize that. Ever. This contract puts Google’s  reputation at risk and stands in direct opposition to our core values.  Building this technology to assi st the US Government in military  surveillance – and potentially lethal outcomes – is not acceptable.

The letter ends by demanding that the company immediately cancel the project and also “Draft,  publicize, and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor  its contractors will ever build warfare technology.” 

Project Maven was launched in April 2017, and according to a Pentagon memo, the objective is to “augment or automate Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (PED) for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)” in order to “reduce  the human factors burden of [full motion video] analysis, increase  actionable intelligence, and enhance military decision-making.” 

When the issue was raised last month, Google spokesperson Diane Greene assured the concerned employees that the technology “will not operate or fly drones” and “will not be used to launch weapons.” 

However, the employees saw right through this excuse and pointed out in their letter that, “While  this eliminates a narrow set of direct applications, the technology is  being built for the military, and once it’s delivered it could easily be  used to assist in these tasks. This plan will irreparably damage  Google’s brand and its ability to compete for talent.” 

Even if this technology is used for “non-offensive purposes,”  it will still be assisting the military-industrial-complex to wage  unjust wars. In fact, it is the responsibility of everyone who is a part  of the machine to refuse participation in war efforts. 

Anti-war activist Arundhati Roy once made this point quite eloquently, saying, “Colorful  demonstrations and weekend marches are vital but alone are not powerful  enough to stop wars. Wars will be stopped only when soldiers refuse to fight  when workers refuse to load weapons onto ships and aircraft when people  boycott the economic outposts of Empire that are strung across the  globe.” 

In a statement to The New York Times this Tuesday, Google CEO Pichai said,  “any military use of machine learning naturally raises valid concerns.  We’re actively engaged across the company in a comprehensive discussion  of this important topic.” 

Pichai also doubled down on the claim that Project Maven was “specifically scoped to be for non-offensive purposes.” 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that this protest will end Google’s relationship with the Pentagon. Google/Alphabet executive Eric Schmidt, and Google vice president  Milo Medin, currently serve on a Pentagon advisory body called the Defense Innovation Board. 

In an interview last November, Schmidt recognized that there was “a general concern in the tech community of somehow the military-industrial complex using their stuff to kill people incorrectly,” but he insisted that the military would only “use this technology to help keep the country safe.” 

Google is notorious for helping the government build a war state  abroad and a police state back home and until now, their employees have  been largely silent about becoming a part of the military-industrial  complex. 

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I wrote this story @ http://thefreethoughtproject.com/google-employees-sign-letter-demanding-company-stop-supporting-war/

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:

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My name is John Vibes and I am an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. I write for numerous alternative media websites, including The Free Thought Project @tftproject and The Mind Unleashed. In addition to my first book, Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance, I have also co-authored three books with Derrick Broze @dbroze : The Conscious Resistance: Reflections on Anarchy and Spirituality, Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion and Manifesto of the Free Humans

I just won a 3-year-long battle with cancer, and will be working to help others through my experience, if you wish to contribute to my medical bills, consider subscribing to my podcast on Patreon.