- US launches GenAI.mil, giving three million DoD personnel access to Gemini for government
- Experts warn rapid injection risks could enable espionage if accounts or workstations are compromised
- History of Google employee protests against military projects raises questions about internal backlash
US military seizes Google’s Gemini. Earlier this week, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hesgeth released a new video on X, announcing GenAI.mil, a platform that “puts the world’s most powerful frontier AI models directly into the hands of every American warrior.”
The platform will be accessible to approximately three million employees of the U.S. Department of Defense (or, as the current administration calls it, the War Department), which includes both military and civilian personnel, all of whom will receive free training on how to use the tool.
The platform runs on Google’s Gemini for Government, a specialized enterprise AI platform and service designed specifically for U.S. federal government agencies.
Google employees against the war
In theory, this means the models are more secure, more compliant, and more government-ready than commercial and free alternatives. However, whether this is actually the case remains to be seen.
In his writing, Cybernews says a lot could go wrong here. Despite everyone’s best efforts, current AI models are still susceptible to injection attacks, meaning the country’s adversaries, such as Russia, China, North Korea or Iran, could have another avenue for data theft and cyber espionage.
“Any compromised user workstation or common access card account now has a powerful AI console that can gain access to internal context through integrations or provide a convenient way to summarize or transform stolen data,” Joshua Copeland, a cybersecurity expert at Tulane University, told the publication.
At the same time, the silence of Google employees is revealing. Over the years, employees have repeatedly protested the company’s involvement in military or defense activities.
In 2018, they protested against Project Maven, an AI project aimed at analyzing drone images. Thousands of employees signed a letter opposing the use of Google technology for military purposes, while several employees resigned. Google ultimately decided not to renew the contract.
Between 2021 and 2023, there was a $1.2 billion cloud and AI contract with the Israeli government and military, Project Nimbus. Google employees have protested internally and publicly, arguing that the technology could be used for surveillance, military operations or human rights abuses. Some were disciplined or fired after activism escalated.
Via Cybernews
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