Google to Provide AI to Pentagon for Classified Work

Google has signed an agreement to allow the U.S. Department of Defense to use its artificial intelligence models on classified networks, according to people familiar with the deal. The contract permits the Pentagon to use the models for “any lawful governmental purpose,” those people said.

In a statement, Google described its role as part of a group of AI labs, technology and cloud companies providing services and infrastructure in support of national security. The company added it is “committed to the private and public sector consensus that A.I. should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry without appropriate human oversight.”

Hundreds of Google employees signed an open letter urging CEO Sundar Pichai to block classified workloads. The letter said, “We want to see AI benefit humanity; not see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways,” and warned that “the only way to guarantee that Google does not become associated with such harm is to reject any classified workloads.”

The employees argued that AI systems can make errors and concentrate power, and they listed concerns including lethal autonomous weapons and large-scale surveillance. The letter warned that allowing unrestricted classified use could cause “irreparable damage to Google’s reputation, business, and role in the world.”

The Defense Department has accelerated agreements with commercial AI providers since earlier this year. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military must win what he described as the strategic competition for technological supremacy and added that the department plans to deploy leading AI models across both unclassified and classified networks.

Tensions have emerged between defense officials and some AI developers. One startup was designated a “supply chain risk” after its chief executive declined to permit unrestricted defense use of its models; that company has filed suit against the Defense Department while seeking to continue other government work.

Details of Google’s agreement, including security safeguards and any restrictions on particular military or surveillance applications, were not disclosed. Despite the internal objections, the company appears to be moving forward as the Defense Department expands use of commercial AI on classified systems.