{"id":1733,"date":"2025-04-11T10:57:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T14:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/?page_id=1733"},"modified":"2025-04-11T11:00:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T15:00:38","slug":"the-effectiveness-of-employee-activism-in-big-tech-dod-partnerships","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/research-and-policy\/the-effectiveness-of-employee-activism-in-big-tech-dod-partnerships\/","title":{"rendered":"The Effectiveness of Employee Activism in Big Tech-DoD Partnerships"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Photo courtesy of David B. Gleason under Creative Commons.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><b>Abstract<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emerging technologies have advanced with criticism from every direction, even from their developers. Multiple corporations in contract with the Department of Defense (DoD) under Project Maven have found themselves facing employee backlash and open letters from employees and outside experts. The major concerns being raised are mostly ethical, involving fear of inclusion of their artificial intelligence (AI) work into autonomous weapons systems (AWS). Regardless of the number of employees who speak out and action a company may take, it is unlikely these systems will stop being developed. Google and Clarifai have shown that action taken can be vastly different, but AI will be developed regardless. Nonetheless, AI has been brought into the Pentagon and continues to spread.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imagine your work being compared to a technology that assisted Hitler in the Holocaust. Except, instead of taking a step back and reassessing your contracts and partnerships, you double down and defend the work you do. This is the reality of private companies, like Microsoft, Amazon, and Palantir, partnering with the United States government on AI.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The rise of ethical questions with the acquisition of emerging technology has led to many conversations on the involvement of these corporations in the Pentagon. As a result, both the private and public sector have taken different approaches, raising questions as to how and if employees can force change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The advancing technologies of AI and AWS assign a newfound moral responsibility to developers, who are left to wonder what they should do with their ethical authority. Why are certain actions being taken or not? Are we seeing any effects from the action or lack of action? These questions will be assessed in relation to these technologies and the involvement of Google and Clarifai with the Pentagon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two hypotheses about employee action against Google and Clarifai will be considered. Hypothesis one assumes employee activism will cause enough uproar in the technology industry that companies will pull out of their contracts and cause these systems to suffer major delays. With this assumption, there is the potential that the system integration delay could cause significant financial loss or halt production entirely. Conversely, hypothesis two assumes that regardless of action taken by employees in Silicon Valley, as well as other corporations working on these technologies, there will not create enough backlash against\u00a0 AI integration into autonomous systems and the DoD. Thus, their activism would be ineffective at scale due to continued manufacturing and incorporation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the impact of negative mental health has been studied in combatants on the ground for many years, it has yet to be analyzed in developers who design these emerging technologies. In part, this is due to a lack of significant fielding with these technologies because of their novelty. However, it is critical to note that morals within every person working on a military project, be it civilians or enlisted, is important and their moral or emotional struggles may have a long-term impact on them or the work they do. There is, however, difficulty in quantifying a moral struggle and its impact. These issues compound because there is no intercultural, objective way to measurement a person\u2019s moral judgements.. By examining actions taken by Google and Clarifai, the ineffectiveness of employee activism will ultimately show that employees do not currently have the ability to impede the development of AI-integrated autonomous systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Literature Review<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Throughout recent decades, research has been conducted on veterans to investigate moral, ethical, and mental health concerns. This research has shown that battlefield experience has a high potential to lead to long-term mental health complications. The recent emergence of new technologies with less human involvement, has seen more programmers speaking out about the development of these systems. There is a lack of research on how developing these technologies creates moral dilemmas and thus impacts the corporations. Whether those developing the systems feel a similar sense of responsibility as to what these technologies do in comparison to those who have previously been on the battlefield has also not been thoroughly researched.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those with concerns about working on government-led AI projects or autonomous weapons systems have been fairly outspoken, but so have those who feel the work is moral. The former fears that these systems do not have enough human judgment nor testing. The latter states security concerns due to the intent China has to become a global leader in technological development and believe that without such technologies, the U.S. may fall behind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research on the impacts of developing autonomous weapons systems has become increasingly important due to their rising relevance in militaries worldwide. The U.S. is one of many countries intending to continue developing and eventually field these systems. As more of these systems emerge, it is important to be aware of not only the impact on developers, but also any effects that workers&#8217; activism may have. It is important that states intending to use these systems understand the impact at every level. Autonomous weapons systems will be referring strictly to human off the loop systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Methodology<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This study examines Google and Clarifai because of the U.S. DoD\u2019s interest in their technologies and programming. In the past, the DoD has partnered with companies in Silicon Valley for work on AI and AWS. Not only were these companies chosen for their Project Maven partnerships with the Pentagon, but also for their different approaches to employee activism. In comparing the two, one can see how much emphasis a company may put into their employees\u2019 morals and how that may change actions by corporations. While neither of these companies were initially working on AI for autonomous systems, much like technological growth, changes were made to policy and Clarifai announced a willingness to sell autonomous weapons technologies to the government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through the Project Maven partnership, Google and Clarifai assisted the DoD by providing algorithms for AI to help on the battlefield. These companies provided AI models to help on the battlefield. While the outcome of each company in the DoD was different based on how they handled employee activists, both show different methods of\u00a0 handling conflicting views. These corporations were founded as technology businesses, without the intent to aid militaries. They are both international technology companies, yet they added technological advancements to the DoD. For the purpose of this research, Google and Clarifai were chosen due to the significant work employees did to make their voices heard and their coverage by news articles, research papers, and books.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research data was pulled from open-source information online due to time restraints and an inability to interview people within the industry. The lack of personally conducted interviews to obtain information on worker positions was not a large hindrance to the\u00a0 resulting conclusion thanks to the many articles and employee interviews available to the public. By comparing general and moral feelings about these systems alongside the feelings of their developers, one will observe a lack of effort from programmers in voicing their concerns. In assessing the effectiveness of employee and public activism on the development of military AI and partnerships, their effects must be measurable. Effectiveness in this evaluation will be measured by the successful delay of building or creating these systems at any point.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Private corporations of Silicon Valley have been involved in DoD contracts for decades. These contracts significantly increased beginning in 2016 with the Defense Innovation Unit, followed by the beginning of Project Maven in 2017.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Even before the 2000s and the jump in big tech integration into the DoD, Silicon Valley was involved in presidential politics. Silicon Valley endorsed President Clinton after the release of the \u201cTechnology Policy for America.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Thus, showing that while some may view the technology industry as new within the government, and more specifically, the Pentagon, these corporations have been major players for decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Moral &amp; Ethical Challenges of Autonomous Weapons Systems<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many people and organizations have vocalized disdain for fully autonomous, human off the loop weapons systems. Being that these are human off the loop, the operator would not have full control over the system or be able to stop it once in motion. One of the main points brought up within such arguments is that these systems must abide by Article 36 of Additional Protocol 1. This article states that new systems must abide by international law.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Thus, AWS must be able to properly distinguish between combatants and non-combatants and also be proportional in their combat use. Whether it is possible for a machine to do so is to be determined by additional testing prior to fielding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being that these are emerging technologies that are not yet fully understood, nor have they reached their full capacity, there is much the developers must learn regarding what these technologies do in the field. This leads to a knowledge gap between developers and operators, in turn leading to an initial lack of trust the operators have of\u00a0 the systems from not understanding developmental aspects. However, once an operator works with a system repeatedly, they begin to trust the system to an extreme.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Both extreme trust and lack thereof can lead to significant operational errors. Education on both sides, developmental and operational, is necessary\u00a0 in order to ethically use such systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The DoD Directive <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Autonomy in Weapons Systems<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> states that those who operate autonomous systems are \u201cto exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This combination of human and system is known as human-machine teaming. While at first glance this seems significant in keeping human decision-making in actions taken, it is important to note that humans tend to place exceedingly high levels of trust in the decision output machines give.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Due to the extreme trust operators have in machines, this then gives way for decisions which may be unethical or illegal. When a machine regularly makes minor decisions that the human knows are acceptable, the operator then begins to trust the more significant decisions the system makes, thus giving more and more decision capability to the machine. This deferment to machine decision could also apply to AI-enabled systems.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Not every AWS is AI-enabled, but by giving those that are the ability to decide and reaffirming their decisions with unjustified trust, machine learning could easily reinforce unethical or illegal actions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Project Maven<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Project Maven, formally known as Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional Team (AWCFT), began in 2017 with intent to bring AI and machine learning to the DoD to combat China as a rising technological power.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Including AI in the DoD appeared to be one way the U.S. military could maintain its global lead. The intent for Project Maven was to evaluate drone images, use private sector machine learning technologies, and improve future drone strikes.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Project Maven was brought into the Pentagon under the Third Offset Strategy, alongside systems with autonomy. Previous to 2017, however, the Pentagon did not have strong connections with the AI industry.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Whether or not the sudden partnerships with technology corporations increased controversy is hard to assess. If these companies had already built trust within the DoD, it is possible that there would not have been the same level of outcry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the challenges in integrating AI capabilities built under Project Maven is the lack of existing real-life data required to train systems. Training systems in artificial scenarios does not give entirely realistic data an AI model can learn from.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This can cause AI-enabled systems to go awry when fielded. It is impossible for all biases to be removed and systems to be tested for every real-world scenario. Project Maven, once fielded, required algorithm updates multiple times a day to ensure accuracy in its new environment.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Though this shows that these AI-enabled systems are not ready for immediate fielding and must be tweaked, it also demonstrates their ability to learn and adjust, while being algorithmically refined from potentially thousands of miles away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the intent to complete the Replicator Initiative by 2026, the U.S. will have thousands of fieldable AI-enabled autonomous systems. This initiative was created in order to contend with China\u2019s growth.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In order to have these vehicles, the DoD needs corporations to create the systems, many of them coming from Silicon Valley. While the U.S. has endorsed the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy,<\/span><\/i> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">it is unclear yet if the endorsement will ease AI or AWS concerns. Some still view this declaration as inadequate as it is not a full ban for AWS and still allows for the militarization of AI.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Google<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google\u2019s entrance into the defense world was plagued with outspoken ethical concerns. Roughly 3,000 employees signed an open letter urging Google to halt their contract with the DoD. Much of this concern stemmed from use of potential lethal power due to programming, prevalence of the military in their work, and AI.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Google\u2019s intent was to work on image data processing; however, this imagery can easily be paired with a lethal or non-lethal autonomous weapons system. In addition to the letter from employees, Google received an open letter asking them to withdraw from Project Maven from various AI researchers and academics due to the mass data Google has on civilians and its potential military integration.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> While civilian data sharing did not appear to be a major concern for these employees, it is a reminder of the extent their personal data can be shared to those who use Google\u2019s services.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the open letter did not cause Google to prematurely cancel their government contract, many employees took personal action. Some felt it best to resign from their positions.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Google is one of few companies in the tech industry that young adults physically exert themselves to work for. Much like other large tech corporations, Google has rigorous qualification requirements. Even with Google being an end goal for many programmers or technology experts, the large number of resignations was a first for them due to the concerns from Project Maven.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This served as an example to even the most prestigious, powerful companies in the technology sector that if their decisions go against people\u2019s ethics, they could lose employee support.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The impact of the open letters, petitions, and employee resignations was significant. While Google did not immediately cancel their contract with the DoD, the company did decide not to renew the contract when it ended in 2019.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Their outspoken employees were effective in getting their employer to not renew this contract over their company\u2019s ethical beliefs even though Google had claimed it was working solely on marking objects with the help of AI. While Google was one of the first major players for private technology companies in the Pentagon, they responded in line with their employees&#8217; wishes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hypothesis one operates under the assumption that employee activism will negatively impact Google and the implementation of AI into autonomous weapons systems in the DoD. However, the Pentagon had another company, Palantir, lined up to take over the contract.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> With Google being the massive corporation it is, one would think this had a severely negative impact on Project Maven. However, Palantir had such success with Project Maven that they expanded their contract with the DoD to reach further within the department.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Additionally, while a $15 million contract seems a significant amount to many, for Google it is not.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The continuation of this AI project with another company by the DoD shows that these contracts will simply move from one corporation to another when cancelled, proving hypothesis two. There is little effect at scale from employee activism at this point. Google reacted to activism by not renewing their contract, but regardless of backlash Google received from partnering with the DoD, their retreat from their contract was unsuccessful in incorporating AI in the Pentagon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Clarifai<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The partnership between the DoD and Clarifai, a New York-based company with a research base in San Francisco, began shortly after the launch of Project Maven. While corporations have varying reasons for the partnerships they form, Clarifai CEO Matthew Zeiler stated that their contribution goals \u201cto save the lives of soldiers and civilians alike\u201d for Project Maven aligned with their mission \u201cto accelerate the progress of humanity with continually improving AI.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Clarifai was working on similar imagery technology to Google, using AI in object detection for drone surveillance.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Irrespective of non-lethal intent, concerns were raised by employees within Clarifai. Though the initial intent was drone imagery, the CEO of Clarifai partnered with Crimson Phoenix, a company already in partnership with the U.S. Army\u2019s Autonomous Combat Casualty Care Initiative,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> thus demonstrating their shift into AI-enabled autonomous systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to other emerging technologies, AI is rapidly growing and changing, with its uses evolving at an explosive rate. For those who work on these technologies, the rapidity can lead to moral dilemmas. With the realization that the technology they were developing could lead to AI-enabled autonomous weapons, a Clarifai employee spoke out and subsequently quit their job.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The same employee wrote a letter to the CEO of Clarifai, on behalf of a larger group of employees. This letter addressed unavoidable biases in coding and requested the CEO to address whether or not technologies they were developing would be implemented into weaponry. They quickly received confirmation that it likely would.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to employees leaving their jobs over ethical concerns, Clarifai fired a former Air Force captain over the filing of a complaint. This complaint was not in regard to technology work the company was doing, but rather a security breach that was not reported in the mandatory 72 hours the Pentagon requires.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This brought into question the company\u2019s general ethics, not solely the ethics of the projects they work on. A security breach on this kind of project, especially when not shared with the DoD,\u00a0 is a national security concern. Regardless of how employees feel working on these projects, this national security information getting into an adversary&#8217;s hand would have a significant negative impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While employees of Clarifai made attempts to halt these projects to get clarity on how they would be used by the government, their efforts were met with little acceptance. Clarifai CEO\u2019s stance remains that lives will be saved through autonomous weapons, with AI being \u201can essential tool.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Their recent partnership with Crimson Phoenix on integrated AI in autonomous systems only emphasizes their intent to work towards AI-enabled autonomous weapons. This coupling could warrant more questions from workers. Whether or not this will lead to more employee resignations or speaking out against the company and AI in general has yet to be seen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employee effectiveness in regard to Clarifai was rather lackluster. Under the first hypothesis, it would be assumed that employees leaving their jobs and writing open letters to the CEO would have caused the company to halt their contract, leaving the Pentagon to scramble for a new business to work with. However, this was not the case. There was a stunning lack of action on behalf of Clarifai after employees spoke up. This then shows that hypothesis two is more accurate for this business. The company continued to develop not only the AI models the Pentagon requested, but also partnered with a separate company to increase their efforts within the DoD and autonomous systems. Clarifai\u2019s CEO Zeiler\u2019s statements show that the partnership has only deepened, and they will only do more work for the Pentagon on the integration of these technologies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Integration of private technology companies into the DoD has proven to be peppered with employee activism. This raises questions about what actions employees take, why they take such actions, and how effective their activism is based on how their employers respond. Both the development of AWS and the integration of AI with Project Maven have raised many ethical dilemmas. Employees and experts alike have written open letters and addressed these concerns to the private tech companies partnering with the DoD. While some companies, like Google, have chosen not to renew their contracts in light of the concerns raised by employees, others, like Clarifai, have made it clear they do not recognize these ethical concerns. Regardless, the DoD continues to partner with corporations to integrate AI into autonomous systems, drawing further concern from many employees and experts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emerging technologies and defense integration are\u00a0 increasingly important topics that continue to raise moral dilemmas and impact national security. Companies must remain clear on their technological intent and, when possible, be mindful of employee concerns. Communication between the private and public sectors is vital in mitigating concerns and being clear about what projects are being supported by the work these employees are doing. This will become increasingly important as the U.S. attempts to maintain control as the world leader in technology amidst growing competition with China.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1715\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1715\" style=\"width: 343px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/pardeeatlas\/files\/2025\/03\/deidra-for-article.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"333\" height=\"333\" class=\"wp-image-1715\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/files\/2025\/03\/deidra-for-article.jpg 581w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/files\/2025\/03\/deidra-for-article-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/files\/2025\/03\/deidra-for-article-550x550.jpg 550w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/files\/2025\/03\/deidra-for-article-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/files\/2025\/03\/deidra-for-article-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1715\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deidra is a MA candidate in International Affairs with a specialization in Security Studies. She has worked as an English Teaching Assistant in Austria after finishing her Bachelor\u2019s in French with minors in German and Linguistics. Previously, Deidra served as President of Pardee\u2019s Graduate Council for the 2024 term. Her research interests include emerging and dual-use technologies, arms control, and power balance dynamics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Albon, Courtney. \u201cPalantir Wins Contract to Expand Access to Project Maven AI Tools.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C4ISRNet<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, C4ISRNet, 30 May 2024, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/artificial-intelligence\/2024\/05\/30\/palantir-wins-contract-to-expand-access-to-project-maven-ai-tools\/\">www.c4isrnet.com\/artificial-intelligence\/2024\/05\/30\/palantir-wins-contract-to-expand-access-to-project-maven-ai-tools\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAmid Pressure from Employees, Google Drops Pentagon\u2019s Project Maven Account.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PBS<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Public Broadcasting Service, 3 June 2018, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/amid-pressure-from-employees-google-drops-pentagons-project-maven-account\">www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/amid-pressure-from-employees-google-drops-pentagons-project-maven-account<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cArticle 36 &#8211; New Weapons.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IHL<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <a href=\"http:\/\/ihl-databases.icrc.org\/en\/ihl-treaties\/api-1977\/article-36?activeTab=\">ihl-databases.icrc.org\/en\/ihl-treaties\/api-1977\/article-36?activeTab=<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bajak, Frank. \u201cPentagon\u2019s AI Initiatives Accelerate Hard Decisions on Lethal Autonomous Weapons.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AP News<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, AP News, 26 Nov. 2023, <a href=\"http:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/us-military-ai-projects-0773b4937801e7a0573f44b57a9a5942\">apnews.com\/article\/us-military-ai-projects-0773b4937801e7a0573f44b57a9a5942<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C, Hari. \u201cClarifai Employee Was Terminated for Trying to Report Controversial Pentagon AI Project Was Hacked.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">California Employment Legal Group<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 17 Feb. 2020, <a href=\"http:\/\/caelg.com\/2018\/06\/13\/clarifai-employee-terminated-trying-report-pentagon-ai-project-hacked\/\">caelg.com\/2018\/06\/13\/clarifai-employee-terminated-trying-report-pentagon-ai-project-hacked\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chappellet-Lanier, Tajha. \u201cGoogle Employees Resign in Protest against Air Force\u2019s Project Maven.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FedScoop<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 14 May 2018, <a href=\"http:\/\/fedscoop.com\/google-employees-resign-project-maven\/\">fedscoop.com\/google-employees-resign-project-maven\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cClarifai and Crimson Phoenix Partner to Enhance Advanced AI, ML and Unstructured Data Labeling in Defense, Intelligence Communities.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Press Release<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 9 Oct. 2024, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.clarifai.com\/press-release\/clarifai-and-crimson-phoenix-partner-to-enhance-advanced-ai-ml-and-unstructured-data-labeling-in-defense-intelligence-communities\">www.clarifai.com\/press-release\/clarifai-and-crimson-phoenix-partner-to-enhance-advanced-ai-ml-and-unstructured-data-labeling-in-defense-intelligence-communities<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conger, Kate. \u201cGoogle Employees Resign in Protest against Pentagon Contract.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gizmodo<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 14 May 2018, <a href=\"http:\/\/gizmodo.com\/google-employees-resign-in-protest-against-pentagon-con-1825729300\">gizmodo.com\/google-employees-resign-in-protest-against-pentagon-con-1825729300<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cummings, Mary. \u201cAutomation bias in intelligent time critical decision support systems.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AIAA 1st Intelligent Systems Technical Conference<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 19 June 2004, <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2514\/6.2004-6313\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2514\/6.2004-6313<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daws, Ryan. \u201cPalantir Took over Project Maven Defense Contract after Google Backed Out.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AI News<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 24 Aug. 2021, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.artificialintelligence-news.com\/news\/palantir-project-maven-defense-contract-google-out\/\">www.artificialintelligence-news.com\/news\/palantir-project-maven-defense-contract-google-out\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDOD Directive 3000.09, \u2018Autonomy in Weapon Systems.\u2019\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Department of Defense<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.esd.whs.mil\/portals\/54\/documents\/dd\/issuances\/dodd\/300009p.pdf\">www.esd.whs.mil\/portals\/54\/documents\/dd\/issuances\/dodd\/300009p.pdf<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gonz\u00e1lez, Roberto J. \u201cMilitarising Big Tech.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transnational Institute<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 2023, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tni.org\/en\/article\/militarising-big-tech\">www.tni.org\/en\/article\/militarising-big-tech<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kalvapalle, Rahul. \u201cGoogle Employees Ask Tech Giant to Pull out of Pentagon AI Project &#8211; National.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Global News<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Global News, 6 Apr. 2018, <a href=\"http:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/4124514\/google-project-maven-open-letter-pentagon\/\">globalnews.ca\/news\/4124514\/google-project-maven-open-letter-pentagon\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kosoff, Maya. \u201cAmazon Workers to Jeff Bezos: Stop Weaponizing Our Tech.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vanity Fair<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Vanity Fair, 22 June 2018, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2018\/06\/amazon-workers-to-jeff-bezos-stop-weaponizing-our-tech?srsltid=AfmBOorN8hzTzyPEFQMRltPc-RzwMlNLifNus58hXhxJ2T4EVLmqhiB8\">www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2018\/06\/amazon-workers-to-jeff-bezos-stop-weaponizing-our-tech?srsltid=AfmBOorN8hzTzyPEFQMRltPc-RzwMlNLifNus58hXhxJ2T4EVLmqhiB8<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Laiq, Nur. \u201cSilicon Valley\u2019s Political Involvement Began Long before Musk and Bezos.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Hill<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, The Hill, 1 Nov. 2024, <a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/4966121-silicon-valley-politics-tech-gurus\/\">thehill.com\/opinion\/4966121-silicon-valley-politics-tech-gurus\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maldonado, Samantha. \u201cEmployees of Big Tech Are Speaking out like Never Before.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tech Xplore<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 26 Aug. 2019, <a href=\"http:\/\/techxplore.com\/news\/2019-08-employees-big-tech.html\">techxplore.com\/news\/2019-08-employees-big-tech.html<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Metz, Cade. \u201cIs Ethical A.I. Even Possible?\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New York Times<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, The New York Times, 1 Mar. 2019, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/03\/01\/business\/ethics-artificial-intelligence.html\">www.nytimes.com\/2019\/03\/01\/business\/ethics-artificial-intelligence.html<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPolitical Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">U.S. Department of State<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, U.S. Department of State, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/political-declaration-on-responsible-military-use-of-artificial-intelligence-and-autonomy\/\">www.state.gov\/political-declaration-on-responsible-military-use-of-artificial-intelligence-and-autonomy\/<\/a>. Accessed 12 Dec. 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ryseff, James. \u201cMastering Human-Machine Warfighting Teams.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">War on the Rocks<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 8 Nov. 2024, <a href=\"http:\/\/warontherocks.com\/2024\/11\/mastering-human-machine-warfighting-teams\/?__s=calytv203wfsk2uae1ma\">warontherocks.com\/2024\/11\/mastering-human-machine-warfighting-teams\/?__s=calytv203wfsk2uae1ma<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scharre, Paul. \u201cMaven.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Four Battlegrounds<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, W. W. Norton &amp; Company, New York, NY, 2023, pp. 53\u201359.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Segars, Heidi. \u201cThe Influence of Operator Trust on Human-Robot Interaction Within Teams.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sage Journals<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/\">journals.sagepub.com\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSilicon Valley Becomes Hotbed for Employee Activism.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CBS News<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, CBS Interactive, 25 Aug. 2019, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/sanfrancisco\/news\/tech-hotbed-employee-activism\/\">www.cbsnews.com\/sanfrancisco\/news\/tech-hotbed-employee-activism\/<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cU.S. Plan for \u2018Responsible Military Use of Ai\u2019 Constructive but Inadequate.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arms Control Association<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 16 Feb. 2023, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.armscontrol.org\/pressroom\/2023-02\/us-plan-responsible-military-use-ai-constructive-inadequate\">www.armscontrol.org\/pressroom\/2023-02\/us-plan-responsible-military-use-ai-constructive-inadequate<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zeiler, Matthew. \u201cClarifai Mission Statement: Clarifai Contributes AI Solutions.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clarifai Mission Statement | Clarifai Contributes AI Solutions<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Clarifai, Inc., 13 June 2018, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.clarifai.com\/blog\/why-were-part-of-project-maven\">www.clarifai.com\/blog\/why-were-part-of-project-maven<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo courtesy of David B. Gleason under Creative Commons. Abstract Emerging technologies have advanced with criticism from every direction, even from their developers. Multiple corporations in contract with the Department of Defense (DoD) under Project Maven have found themselves facing employee backlash and open letters from employees and outside experts. The major concerns being raised [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24525,"featured_media":0,"parent":550,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1733"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24525"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1734,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1733\/revisions\/1734"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pardeeatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}