Google, OpenAI workers push for military AI limits
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More than 200 employees from Google and OpenAI have signed an open letter stating their solidarity with Anthropic in limiting the use of advanced AI for domestic surveillance or fully autonomous warfare.
Why it matters: The signatures could pressure Google and OpenAI to join Anthropic in drawing a line in the sand over what they won't allow governments— even the U.S. government—to do with their technology.
Driving the news: The letter comes as Anthropic has reiterated its insistence that its technology not be used to surveil U.S. citizens or for autonomous weapons.
- "The Pentagon is negotiating with Google and OpenAI to try to get them to agree to what Anthropic has refused," the letter states. "They're trying to divide each company with fear that the other will give in. That strategy only works if none of us know where the others stand."
- It calls on Google and OpenAI leadership to "put aside their differences and stand together" against the Pentagon's demands.
- The organizers say they are unaffiliated with any AI company or political group. Signatures are verified, and signers can remain anonymous, according to the letter.
By the numbers: The letter had been signed by more than 160 people from Google and more than 40 people from OpenAI as of 5:30 p.m. PT on Thursday, though some signed the letter anonymously.
- Google parent Alphabet employed nearly 200,000 people as of last year, while OpenAI's workforce is estimated at fewer than 10,000 people.
Between the lines: Some in Congress have also called on the government to back down from its fight with Anthropic.
Google reversed its internal prohibition on AI for weapons and surveillance in February 2025.
What we're watching: The letter tests whether rank-and-file AI workers who rally behind Anthropic's position will convince their own employers to adopt similar red lines.
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This story is developing.
