Some of the people building Google's AI are walking out over how the military uses it. Several employees have recently resigned from Google DeepMind, or are in the process of leaving, over Google's contracts to deploy its AI in military settings, a BBC Eye investigation published on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 reported.

Who left, and why

  • Sofia Liguori, a London-based research engineer, resigned this week after three years at the company. "Realising my company is pushing more and more for AI systems in military operations makes me feel ashamed to work at Google," she told the BBC, speaking in a personal capacity. She said her contract restricts her from criticising Google.
  • Andreas Kirsch, an AI researcher, resigned earlier in October. He told the BBC that "Google's governance and oversight are not sufficient or meaningful enough to deploy AI safely and responsibly in military and classified settings," and that "Google seems to have no right to control or veto how the Pentagon uses its AI and also seems to have limited visibility into how it's being deployed."
  • Two current DeepMind staff, speaking anonymously, told the BBC that many people who feel strongly about the company's changing ethics position have already left.

What Google says

A Google spokesperson told the BBC: "We work with public sector organisations worldwide and follow a consistent process for reviewing and entering these contracts, including compliance with our acceptable use policies and AI principles." Google said it has dedicated channels for employees to raise concerns and strict policies against retaliation.

The contract at the center

According to the BBC, Google's Pentagon agreement, signed earlier this year, allows its AI models to be used for "any lawful government purpose," including classified work, and says they "should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons (including target selection) without appropriate human oversight and control." The BBC reported that OpenAI, Amazon, Microsoft, SpaceX, Oracle, Nvidia and the start-up Reflection signed similar contracts. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the U.S. "will become an 'AI-first' warfighting force," and Under Secretary Emil Michael has said "Speed defines victory in the AI era."

Ynet News, following up on the BBC report, noted that the resignations also touch on Google's roughly $1.2 billion Project Nimbus cloud deal with Israel, which Google has said is not directed at classified military or weapons workloads.

For more on how AI labs are handling risk, see OpenAI's latest misalignment report and DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis on AGI timing.