The Pentagon enlists Google’s artificial intelligence

Mountain View breaks the deadlock and aligns itself with the giants of the sector by signing a secret pact with the United States Department of Defense. According to leaked rumors, the agreement would allow the Pentagon to use the artificial intelligence models developed by Google for any government purpose deemed legitimate. The news emerges at a time of strong internal tension, less than twenty-four hours after the employees’ formal request to CEO Sundar Pichai to exclude Defense from access to proprietary technologies, for fear that these could fuel inhuman systems or mass surveillance practices.

The search engine giant thus joins companies such as OpenAI and xAI, already operating in the government defense sector with similar contracts. In contrast, Anthropic would have been excluded from the Pentagon’s plans due to its steadfast refusal to remove its ethical constraints related to the use of warfare and surveillance software. While Google’s contract includes theoretical clauses against using AI for home control or autonomous weapons without appropriate human oversight, the lack of an effective veto over government operational decisions suggests that such restrictions are more formal than substantive.

For its part, the company defended its position by stating that providing API access to its business models represents a responsible approach to supporting national security. Google’s communication strategy aims to normalize collaboration with federal institutions by following industrial standards, despite concerns related to the potential authoritarian or lethal drift of algorithms. The affair marks a turning point in the relationship between Big Tech and the military, highlighting how the needs of national defense are progressively overcoming the ethical resistance expressed by the workforce of the technological giants.