Google DeepMind Staff Quit Over Military AI Contracts

Several employees at Google DeepMind have resigned or are preparing to leave over the company's military AI work, the BBC reports. Research engineer Sofia Liguori resigned this week, and AI researcher Andreas Kirsch left earlier this month.

Liguori resigned after three years at the company, citing Google's expanding work with the US and Israeli militaries. Kirsch said Google's governance and oversight are not sufficient for military and classified settings, and that the company appears to have limited visibility into Pentagon deployments and no clear power to block specific uses.

The departures follow Google's agreement with the US Department of Defense for classified AI use. The contract permits use for any lawful government purpose but says the models should not support domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, including target selection, without appropriate human oversight and control.

Google said it reviews public sector contracts for compliance with its acceptable use policies and AI principles. The company also said employees have dedicated channels for reporting ethical concerns or misconduct and that its workplace policies prohibit retaliation.