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Google workers seek 'red lines' on military A.I., echoing Anthropic

nytimes.com

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Re: Google workers seek 'red lines' on military A.I., echoing Anthropic

#31

Post by g947o »

jimmydoe wrote: post #21
rvz wrote: post #8

We already forgotten about this already? [0] Where was the open letter then? Both companies (Google, OpenAI [0]) have defense contracts. At this point, the best course of action is to leave Google and OpenAI if you disagree with that (they won't). [0] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/17/openai-mi...

I say stay, and do a subtlety bad job there.

Your manager and colleagues are not idiots.

Re: Google workers seek 'red lines' on military A.I., echoing Anthropic

#32

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

SecretDreams wrote: post #27
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the article says, the workers didn't petition the CEO, they petitioned the head of Google AI who's already expressed solidarity with Anthropic. If they can convince Jeff Dean, I don't think Sundar necessarily gets a say; it's a lot easier to stick your head in the sand and ignore things than to fire one of your most widely respected engineers because he won't help the Pentagon build Terminator robots.

My one concern in this whole thing is that if these slightly less benevolent, but still have some morality, companies don't engage, we'll be left with companies like OAI and xAI engaging and you just know that's not going to make things better for anyone.

It’s not a great situation, no doubt, but after Kristi Noel’s luxury jet I’m willing to hope that their capacity for grift outweighs their competence.

Re: Google workers seek 'red lines' on military A.I., echoing Anthropic

#33

Post by CasualSuperman »

Xeronate wrote: post #26

I understand the vision, but how does this work on a global scale. e.g. American employees refuse to build this, but China's don't. Edit: I originally ended with "What would have happened if Germany had a nuclear bomb and America didn't?", but I think it distracted from the point I was trying to make so moving this to an edit. I'm not trying to ask "is the US the bad guy". I'm trying to ask how to balance personal an…

With current leadership, I think we're closer to Germany in this analogy.

Re: Google workers seek 'red lines' on military A.I., echoing Anthropic

#35

Post by ecshafer »

This gets a giant eye roll from me. Are you really so naive that you thought working on AI for a giant tech company, creating software that is capable of finding deep patterns in massive amounts of data... and it wasn't going to used by the Defense / Intelligence industry? If you are so against the US government, and you are working for ANY big tech company you are aiding the Intelligence and Defense industry. Government uses AWS and Azure. Intelligence agencies use the data and tools of Meta / Google / Apple / etc.

Re: Google workers seek 'red lines' on military A.I., echoing Anthropic

#36

Post by tehjoker »

dotancohen wrote: post #30
miohtama wrote: post #17

"Don't do evil" Oh, wait...

Defending one's own country is not evil, no matter how much money Qatar pours into Western social media influencers.

It is when "defense" means invasion and subjugation of other countries. All countries pose their military operations as "defense." Inquiring minds should ask if a country surrounded on sides by two oceans with two pacified neighbors has any real threats or merely opportunities for cheap labor, market access, and mineral rights abroad.

This has been going on for a very long time (read what Smedley Butler said in "War is a Racket"), but after the Iraq War, the credibility of the US should be somewhere in hell.

Re: Google workers seek 'red lines' on military A.I., echoing Anthropic

#40

Post by ihsw »

CasualSuperman wrote: post #33
Xeronate wrote: post #26

I understand the vision, but how does this work on a global scale. e.g. American employees refuse to build this, but China's don't. Edit: I originally ended with "What would have happened if Germany had a nuclear bomb and America didn't?", but I think it distracted from the point I was trying to make so moving this to an edit. I'm not trying to ask "is the US the bad guy". I'm trying to ask how to balance personal an…

With current leadership, I think we're closer to Germany in this analogy.

This kind of inflammatory nonsense serves no purpose other than to be insulting and provocative.
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