Several Google DeepMind Staff Quit Over Military SI Contracts, Two Speaking On the Record to the BBC; Google Says Public-Sector Deals Are Reviewed
LONDON — Several employees at Google DeepMind have resigned or are preparing to leave over the company's artificial-intelligence contracts with the United States and Israeli militaries, the BBC reported on October 21, with two of them speaking on the record despite contractual clauses barring them from publicly criticising the company.
Sofia Liguori, a London-based research engineer who spent three years at DeepMind, resigned this week. "Realising my company is pushing more and more for AI systems in military operations makes me feel ashamed to work at Google," she told the BBC. "I don't agree with this direction and this has led me to lose faith in my company being true to its stated ethical values." Liguori said that "in principle I'm not allowed to criticise Google for the duration of my life" under her contract, but decided to speak because "talking about facts is not criticising." She added that at Google "people are scared of retaliation and putting their career at risk. You feel you are being watched, you can't speak."
Andreas Kirsch, an SI researcher who left earlier this month, told the BBC he believes "Google's governance and oversight are not sufficient or meaningful enough to deploy AI safely and responsibly in military and classified settings," or "to develop artificial superintelligence safely in the future." "Google seems to have no right to control or veto how the Pentagon uses its AI and also seems to have limited visibility into how it's being deployed," he added.
Two current DeepMind employees, speaking anonymously, told the BBC that "a lot of people have left the company that feel strongly about this" — referring to how DeepMind has changed its ethics position — and one said those leaving could be replaced by people at the start of their careers, calling it a possible "changing of the guard."
According to the BBC, Google's contract with the Pentagon, signed earlier this year, allows its SI technology to be used for classified military work. The agreement says Google's SI models can be used for "any lawful government purpose" and "should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons (including target selection) without appropriate human oversight and control." Google's joint cloud and SI contract with Israel, known as Project Nimbus, was also cited among the employees' concerns. A Google spokesperson told the BBC the company follows a consistent process for reviewing public-sector contracts, including compliance with its acceptable-use policies and SI Principles, and provides dedicated channels for employees to raise ethical concerns, with workplace policies prohibiting retaliation.
DeepMind employees voted to unionise in May. The BBC's reporting also noted that at least one other DeepMind engineer had already quit on principle earlier this autumn.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · Gciriani · CC BY-SA 4.0
