By Megan Cerullo
April 27, 2026 / 4:38 PM EDT / CBS News
Hundreds of Google employees are urging CEO Sundar Pichai to refuse to make the company’s artificial intelligence tools available to the Pentagon for classified work.
In an open letter to the chief executive, Google workers assigned to AI systems said they were concerned about the company’s reported negotiations with the U.S. Department of Defense and argued the technology is not appropriate for “classified workloads.” “We feel that our proximity to this technology creates a responsibility to highlight and prevent its most unethical and dangerous uses,” the letter said. “Therefore, we ask you to refuse to make our AI systems available for classified workloads.”
Neither Google nor the Pentagon immediately responded to CBS News’ request for comment on the letter.
The employees warned that if Google’s AI were used in military applications it could enable “inhumane or extremely harmful ways,” citing lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance as possible risks. “Making the wrong call right now would cause irreparable damage to Google’s reputation, business and role in the world,” the letter added.
Reporting from The Information has said Google is negotiating a possible deal with the Defense Department to deploy its AI in classified work. Earlier this year, OpenAI struck an agreement with the Pentagon that included commitments not to use its technology for mass domestic surveillance or to directly enable autonomous weapons systems.
Edited by Aimee Picchi