Google signed the Pentagon’s classified AI deal and walked away from its drone swarm contest on the same day.

Google signed a classified AI deal with the Pentagon for “any lawful government purpose” one day after 580+ employees urged Pichai to refuse. The contract includes advisory guardrails (no mass surveillance, no autonomous weapons without human oversight) but the government can request adjustments to safety settings. On the same day, Bloomberg revealed Google quietly dropped out of a $100M drone swarm contest in February after an internal ethics review. Google is drawing a line between selling general-purpose AI access and building specific weapons, but on classified networks, the distinction may be meaningless.

Google has signed a deal allowing the Pentagon to use its Gemini AI models for classified military work under terms that permit “any lawful government purpose,” the company confirmed on Tuesday, one day after more than 580 Google employees signed a letter urging CEO Sundar Pichai to refuse exactly this kind of arrangement. The agreement provides the Department ...