Deep conflict at DeepMind

August 27, 2024

The Deepmind logo is being displayed on a smartphone with the Google Gemini logo in the background in this photo illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 8, 2024.

Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto

Google DeepMind employees are pushing the company to drop its military contracts. Two hundred workers at the Google AI division, about 5% of its staff, signed a letter earlier this year urging the company to get out of the business of war. The existence of this letter, dated May 16, was first reported by Time on Aug. 23.

While Google supplies cloud services to militaries, including the United States, Google DeepMind signed a pledge in 2018 vowing not to help develop any lethal autonomous weapons.

The signatories don’t specify militaries by name but do link to a report disclosing Google’s contract for cloud services and AI with the Israeli military.

It’s not a major action by employees but demonstrates the debate over where lines might be drawn between military and private sector technologies — even when they involve the same vendors.

For now, the emergence of the letter is unlikely to change anything for a company that currently has billions of dollars worth of military contracts.

G7 foreign ministers meet ahead of June summit. Could be awkward.

From left, British Foreign Minister David Lammy, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock pose for a photo during the G7 foreign ministers meeting in La Malbaie, Charlevoix, Quebec, on March 13, 2025.

SAUL LOEB/Pool via REUTERS

Ahead of the 50th G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, this summer, foreign ministers from member countries are meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec, this week. Canada, as the current president of the G7, is hosting the confab, which may be a tad … awkward.

Canada’s new PM is a technocratic banker who’s never been elected – that might help him

Canadian Liberal Party leader Mark Carney faces Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre in this composite, with Donald Trump hovering in the background.

Jess Frampton

Liberal Party leader Mark Carney’s previous, purported liabilities – being a staid, low-key, globalist technocrat who’s never been elected – may be seen as strengths as he prepares to call a snap election in the coming days. David Moscrop explains why.

With a ceasefire on the table, Putin tells his troops to keep fighting

Russia's President Vladimir Putin addresses commanders as he visits a control center of the Russian armed forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region, Russia, on March 12, 2025.

Russian Pool/Reuters TV via Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise battlefield visit on Wednesday, telling troops in the Kursk region of Russia to “completely destroy” the Ukrainian forces that have occupied parts of the area for nearly seven months.

Deep conflict at DeepMind

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More from GZERO Media

Have you stayed atop GZERO’s news coverage this week? Here’s your chance to prove it.

The US Department of Education, which Donald Trump has sought to dismantle, is laying off roughly half of its 4,100-strong workforce. But attorneys general in Democratic states are pushing back.

US tariffs and the resulting counter-tariffs threaten to disrupt supply chains, drive profits down for manufacturers, lead to job losses, and raise prices for consumers on both sides of the border.

Ahead of the 50th G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, this summer, foreign ministers from member countries are meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec, this week. Canada, as the current president of the G7, is hosting the confab, which may be a tad … awkward.

GZEROMEDIA

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There are 120 guns per 100 people in the US – yes, more than one per person – compared to 35 per 100 people in Canada.

Liberal Party leader Mark Carney’s previous, purported liabilities – being a staid, low-key, globalist technocrat who’s never been elected – may be seen as strengths as he prepares to call a snap election in the coming days. David Moscrop explains why.

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