Google Withdraws from Pentagon Drone Swarm Competition After Internal Ethics Review
Google submitted a proposal for a Pentagon prize challenge to build voice-controlled autonomous drone swarms but withdrew weeks after being selected, notifying the Defense Department on February 11. The company cited lack of resourcing, though an internal ethics review preceded the exit. Over 600 Google employees, many from DeepMind, signed an open letter this week urging CEO Sundar Pichai to reject classified military contracts. OpenAI, Palantir, and xAI remain in the competition for the $100 million prize.