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We had submissions from two Soylentils concerning recent employee reaction to Google's participation in the Pentagon's "Project Maven" program:
Google Workers Urge C.E.O. to Pull Out of Pentagon A.I. Project
Submitted via IRC for fyngyrz
Thousands of Google employees, including dozens of senior engineers, have signed a letter protesting the company's involvement in a Pentagon program that uses artificial intelligence to interpret video imagery and could be used to improve the targeting of drone strikes.
The letter [pdf], which is circulating inside Google and has garnered more than 3,100 signatures, reflects a culture clash between Silicon Valley and the federal government that is likely to intensify as cutting-edge artificial intelligence is increasingly employed for military purposes.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/technology/google-letter-ceo-pentagon-project.html
Google Employees on Pentagon AI Algorithms: "Google Should Not be in the Business of War"
Thousands of Google employees have signed a letter protesting the development of "Project Maven", which would use machine learning algorithms to analyze footage from U.S. military drones:
Last month, it was announced that Google was offering its resources to the US Department of Defense for Project Maven, a research initiative to develop computer vision algorithms that can analyze drone footage. In response, more than 3,100 Google employees have signed a letter urging Google CEO Sundar Pichai to reevaluate the company's involvement, as "Google should not be in the business of war," as reported by The New York Times.
Work on Project Maven began last April, and while details on what Google is actually providing to the DOD are not clear, it is understood that it's a Pentagon research initiative for improved analysis of drone footage. In a press statement, a Google spokesperson confirmed that the company was giving the DOD access to its open-source TensorFlow software, used in machine learning applications that are capable of understanding the contents of photos.
Previously: Google vs Maven
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Kilo110 on Thursday April 05 2018, @01:52PM (5 children)
Depends how much power those special snowflakes have. If they have enough, of course they can.
Good engineers in silicon valley are high coveted and I'm sure they are aware of their value. Threatening to leave en masse can be a powerful threat.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday April 05 2018, @01:57PM
Is it a threatening to leave situation or just a we're trying to tell you what to do situation though? I wouldn't think most of their staff would be willing to give up a Google job unless they had something better lined up already.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday April 05 2018, @02:46PM (3 children)
Indispensable, huh? What a concept. An employee whose termination would destroy the company. I suppose that could happen in a situation where all of management is utterly incompetent. Oh - wait - maybe some of the employees really are indispensable! We have many examples of incompetent management today. Let me check my Enron stocks!
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 05 2018, @02:49PM
The teacher walked up in front of the classroom. "Alright, class, let's begin today's lesson." he said jubilantly. The young children were all nervous, given that it was the first day of school after a long summer break. As such, the teacher planned to show each student a close, hands-on demonstration of the subject matter so that they could comprehend it in its entirety. He walked up to a girl sitting in the front row to begin his lesson in earnest.
The teacher reached the first student and thoroughly taught her the subject matter. After he was done with his demonstration, he walked to the next student. And then the next. And then the next. By this time, the students would begin screaming whenever he walked towards another amongst them. The most likely reason for this screaming was that they were excited about the lesson; that was the conclusion the teacher had arrived at, and the one that pleased him the most. The students' eagerness to learn both satisfied the man and made him profoundly energetic. He efficiently did his demonstration for all 26 students. The lesson had concluded just in time for the bell to ring.
"Alright, class, the lesson is over. I hope you all understand the topic completely now. If you have any questions, you can come see me again at any time. You are dismissed." the teacher said, while wearing an angelic smile on his face. The man then removed the barricade in front of the door and departed. The students neither said anything nor moved even an inch. Silence permeated the room. Impenetrable silence.
Several days later, 26 naked, rotting objects would be discarded into a dumpster. What was most interesting about these objects, however, was that every single one of them fully understood men's rights.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tonyPick on Thursday April 05 2018, @03:17PM (1 child)
Individuals no ("cemeteries are filled with people who thought the world couldn’t get along without them.")
On the other hand even a few tens of engineers going out the door, if they're key people, can take enough institutional knowledge to be a problem for any company, and having them going out as a group to work for a direct competitor makes that impact worse. (See Waymo vs Uber for how far that can go.)
Will the Google staff go that far? Are these key people or easily replaceable dudebrocoders? No Idea, but even Google might not be able to tell everyone to "shut up and keep typing, or else" without risk. Keeping them happy might be better for the company, but unless you've got more information on who/what they'd lose and the value of the contracts, we're all just guessing here.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:26PM
Or are the people threatening to leave the gender-studies employees that do little actual work?