Google Employees Urge CEO to Block Pentagon Classified AI Deployment as DIA NGA Push for Gemini Access
Hundreds of Google employees including principals, directors, and vice presidents sent a letter April 27 urging CEO Sundar Pichai to bar the Pentagon from deploying Google Gemini AI models in classified settings, two months after rival Anthropic was dropped by the Defense Department for requesting similar restrictions. The Pentagon is negotiating contract language that would allow the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and other IC elements to deploy Gemini on classified networks under broad all lawful uses wording. Google has already made Gemini agents available to the Pentagon's three-million-strong workforce at the unclassified level. Emil Michael, under secretary of defense for research and engineering, confirmed classified deployment talks are underway. The employee protest specifically targets classified military and intelligence applications, with organizers concentrated in Google DeepMind.
The employee letter marks the first organized internal resistance to classified-tier IC deployment at a major AI vendor since Anthropic was dropped from defense contracting for requesting use restrictions. The signatories are concentrated in DeepMind, the unit that develops the foundation models DIA and NGA would deploy; its researchers' departure would degrade the capability the Pentagon seeks to acquire. The Pentagon will