Google has signed a classified AI deal with the US Department of Defense, permitting the Pentagon to use its AI models for 'any lawful government purpose' without the ethical restrictions that got Anthropic blacklisted in February 2026. The deal was reported just hours after 560 Google employees published an open letter urging CEO Sundar Pichai to refuse such arrangements. Unlike Anthropic, which maintained contractual prohibitions on mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, Google's agreement appears to grant the broadest discretion yet among Pentagon AI suppliers. OpenAI, xAI, and Google now form the remaining classified AI vendor pool, each with varying but significant latitude for military applications. The timing creates a sharp internal conflict for Google, as employees who signed the letter found themselves working for a company that had already agreed to what they opposed.
Sort: