- A Google director has resigned over the company’s contracts with the DoD
- The director shared a letter internally with colleagues at Google
- “Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass”, the letter stated
A director for Android platform security has resigned from his position over Google’s contracts with the Department of Defense.
In a letter shared with colleagues, and seen by Business Insider, René Mayrhofer said that the decision had become “unavoidable” following Google’s decision to allow the Pentagon to use the company’s AI models for classified work.
Google is just one of the many AI companies to have authorized the use of AI models with the Department of Defense, which retains the right to use the AI models for ‘any lawful purpose’.
Resignation “unavoidable”
Mayrhofer’s letter, titled “Google Management Has Lost Its Moral Compass”, cited the company’s quiet abandonment of carbon-neutral goals in pursuit of AI development.
“Worse,” the letter continued, “the current Google management is now signing deals with the US Ministry of War—where ‘any lawful purpose’ by the current US government has already been repeatedly demonstrated to be in violation of international laws.”
When rumors began circulating about Google’s potential dealing with the Pentagon, hundreds of Google employees signed an open letter calling on CEO Sundar Pichai to reject the “unethical and dangerous” decision to allow the Defense Department to use Google’s AI models for classified purposes.
In order to avoid the same fate suffered by Anthropic at the hands of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Google confirmed the contracts and allowed the Pentagon use of its AI models for “any lawful purpose”.
In 2018, Google published a set of AI principles for the responsible development and use of the technology. Included within them was a clause that the company would not use AI to develop weapons or surveillance tools.
The principles were removed from Google’s guidelines in February 2025. Google’s previous motto, “Don’t be evil”, was steadily phased out between 2015 and 2018.
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benedict.collins@futurenet.com (Benedict Collins)
