Google AI Principles (2018) - 2025 removal of weapons and surveillance pledge
Google / Google DeepMind · 2018-06-07 (original); 2025-02-04 (revised)
In 2018 Google promised not to build AI for weapons or norm-violating surveillance. In 2025 it quietly deleted that promise and has since expanded military AI work, over objections from hundreds of its own staff.
What it calls for
- Human oversight
- Fairness non discrimination
- Privacy
- Safety evaluations
Scope
Single company; original 2018 principles followed employee protests over Project Maven
What actually happened
On 2025-02-04 Google deleted the 'applications we will not pursue' section (weapons, surveillance violating international norms, technologies causing overall harm) in a post by Demis Hassabis and James Manyika (https://www.vice.com/en/article/google-abandoned-core-parts-ai-pledge-weapons/; https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/04/google-removes-pledge-to-not-use-ai-for-weapons-surveillance.html). Senator Markey wrote to Google demanding explanation (https://www.markey.senate.gov/download/letter-to-google-on-ai-principles-revisions?download=1). Google then deployed Gemini to 3 million Pentagon users (Mar 2026) and negotiated a classified 'all lawful uses' deal, prompting a 580+-employee letter (https://thenextweb.com/news/google-employees-classified-military-ai-pentagon).