- Google executive resigned over company’s DoD contracts
- Director shared letter internally with Google colleagues
- “Google management has lost its moral compass,” the letter said.
A director of security for the Android platform has resigned from his position following Google’s contracts with the Ministry of Defense.
In a letter shared with colleagues and seen by Business InsiderRené Mayrhofer said the decision became “inevitable” following Google’s decision to allow the Pentagon to use the company’s AI models for classified work.
Google is just one of several AI companies that have cleared the use of AI models with the Department of Defense, which reserves the right to use the AI models for “any lawful purpose.”
“Inevitable” resignation
Mayrhofer’s letter, titled “Google management has lost its moral compass,” cited the company’s quiet abandonment of carbon neutrality goals in the pursuit of AI development.
“Worse still,” the letter continues, “the current management of Google is now signing agreements with the US Department of War – where it has already been repeatedly demonstrated that “any lawful objective” of the current US government violates international laws. »
When rumors began to circulate about Google’s potential dealings with the Pentagon, hundreds of Google employees signed an open letter calling on CEO Sundar Pichai to reject the “unethical and dangerous” decision to allow the Department of Defense to use Google’s AI models for classified purposes.
To avoid the same fate suffered by Anthropic at the hands of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Google confirmed the contracts and authorized the Pentagon to use its AI models for “any lawful purpose.”
In 2018, Google published a set of AI principles for the responsible development and use of the technology. They contained a clause that the company would not use AI to develop weapons or surveillance tools.
These principles were removed from Google’s guidelines in February 2025. Google’s previous motto, “Don’t be evil,” was phased out between 2015 and 2018.
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