By Megan Cerullo
April 27, 2026
Hundreds of Google employees have signed an open letter asking CEO Sundar Pichai to decline requests to use the company’s AI systems for classified Pentagon work. The signatories, many of whom work on AI projects, said they are alarmed by reports that Google is in talks with the U.S. Department of Defense and argued that the technology should not be applied to classified workloads.
The employees said their proximity to advanced AI gives them a responsibility to call out and prevent its most unethical and dangerous uses. They warned that providing AI for military purposes could enable deeply harmful outcomes, citing the risks of lethal autonomous weapons and broad surveillance programs. The letter also said a decision to move forward could cause lasting harm to Google’s reputation, business and global role.
CBS News asked Google and the Pentagon for comment, but neither had an immediate response. Reporting by The Information has said Google is negotiating a potential classified contract with the Defense Department. Earlier this year, OpenAI reached an agreement with the Pentagon that included pledges not to support mass domestic surveillance or directly enable autonomous weapons systems.