Google Deepmind and OpenAI employees demand Anthropic-style red lines on Pentagon surveillance and autonomous weapons

Anthropic's dispute with the Pentagon is now rippling through Google and OpenAI. According to the New York Times, more than 100 Google AI employees sent a letter to chief scientist Jeff Dean—who had previously voiced support for Anthropic's position—demanding that Google draw the same red lines: no surveillance of American citizens and no autonomous weapons without human oversight through Gemini. Separately, nearly 50 OpenAI and 175 Google employees published an open letter criticizing the Pentagon's negotiating tactics.

We hope our leaders will put aside their differences and stand together to continue to refuse the Department of War's current demands for permission to use our models for domestic mass surveillance and autonomously killing people without human oversight.

Quote from the open letter "We will not be divided"

According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told his employees that OpenAI is working on its own Pentagon contract that would include the same safety guidelines Anthropic is pushing for. Altman hopes to find a solution that works for other AI companies as well.