Google Won't Seek to Renew Pentagon Contract After Internal Backlash

By Douglas MacMillan 

Alphabet Inc.'s Google has decided not to seek renewal of a Pentagon contract that had become the focus of internal debate around the use of the tech giant's technology for military purposes, said a person familiar with the matter.

Diane Greene, the head of Google's cloud-computing division, on Friday told employees the company wouldn't renew a partnership with the U.S. Defense Department that is set to expire in March 2019, the person said. The program, code-named "Project Maven," helped the Pentagon identify and track potential drone targets through artificial intelligence.

Technology blog Gizmodo earlier reported Google's decision that it wouldn't try to get the contract renewed.

Google's capitulation on a high-profile government contract comes amid debate within the firm's campus about its involvement in war. As news of Project Maven leaked in recent months, employees objecting to the program protested on internal message boards. Some employees signed a petition asking Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai to end the program.

A Google spokesman said recently the Pentagon uses its technology only to recognize objects and help "save lives," not for launching weapons.

Google's move marks the latest example of how it is struggling to contain growing activism among fractious groups within its workforce. Google's employee intranet is filled with tools enabling its 80,000 employees to broadcast their opinions on topics ranging from social issues to political beliefs. Just as some employees have protested Google's work with the government, others expressed concern that the opinions of low-level employees shouldn't have a bearing on the company's business contracts.

The internal debate around Maven contributed to the company's decision not to renew its contract, the person familiar with the matter said.

Google is still competing with rivals including Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. for a multibillion-dollar contract to move the Pentagon's data into the cloud. The Pentagon's Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract, known by the acronym JEDI, could be worth billions over a decade for cloud computing.

To help quell employee concerns about future government contracts, Google plans to release a set of internal ethical guidelines next week that will set limits on how the company will permit its technology to be used, the person familiar said.

Write to Douglas MacMillan at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 01, 2018 17:47 ET (21:47 GMT)

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