Google has announced that the company has decided not to renew its contract with the Pentagon. The company is currently working with the US military on the development of artificial intelligence.
The decision was shared during a meeting with Google employees, The New York Times reported. The company would try to prevent its employees from revolting, because they do not want Google to develop technology that can be used for warfare.
The AI technology uses machine learning and is able to interpret video images. This makes it possible, for example, to carry out drone attacks in a more targeted manner. The current partnership will expire next year.
In April, a large number of Google employees protested against the development of AI technology for the US military in a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai. The employees thought that Google should stay far away from this. Earlier this week, Google announced that it was working on rules that the technology may not be used for weapons. Apparently this step was not enough and the company has decided to end the collaboration in its entirety.