Article: Google opens the door to military AI collaborations

In a publication in Trouw, RAW researcher Jessica Dorsey responds to Google’s newly announced ethical AI guidelines, which remove the company’s previous commitment of not making their AI applications available for weapons and surveillance. Dorsey notes that this decision creates opportunities for cooperation with military industries and mirrors the practices of other significant AI companies that already have or are pursuing defense contracts, such as OpenAI, Meta, Amazon, and Palantir.

She mentions how companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft currently provide cloud storage for the Israeli military. The Israeli military in general widely uses AI for military purposes, including identifying individuals affiliated with Hamas and classifying them as potential targets. Dorsey further explains that most advanced militaries invest in AI-enabled systems, and big tech companies do not want to fall behind in this emerging AI arms race. RAW researcher Marijn Hoijtink echoed this point of view in the Flemish newspaper DeMorgen and an interview with Radio1, stating, “It is no coincidence that companies like Microsoft and OpenAI are winning new military contracts. Google wants a piece of that pie”. Meanwhile, governments are becoming increasingly dependent on these companies for software and cloud infrastructure, reducing their need to develop such capabilities independently.

It remains unclear what specific changes Google’s revised AI guidelines will lead to. However, Dorsey warns that the lack of regulation on AI-driven warfare poses significant risks. She argues that there is a shared responsibility between governments acquiring these technologies and the companies developing them, emphasizing the need for stricter legislation. Hoijtink adds that these companies are not democratically elected and questions how they can be held accountable if human rights are violated. She concludes by stating, “We need to think about what roles those companies are allowed to fill before we become dependent on them on every level.”

Read both articles in Dutch by clicking on the following links:
Trouw and DeMorgen.

Listen to the Radio1 interview by clicking here.

Photo by ayumi kubo on Unsplash

Jessica Dorsey LL.M. is an Assistant Professor of International and European Law at Utrecht University. She is a US- and Dutch-educated international lawyer with expertise in international humanitarian law, human rights law and public international law. Her current research focuses on the legitimacy of military targeting operations in light of increasing autonomy in warfare, with a specific focus on how transparency, accountability and the rule of law contribute to this legitimacy. Jessica is also a renowned legal scholar and practitioner on issues related to the use of force, especially in the context of drone warfare, having worked in the field for more than 15 years. She has written expert advisory reports on the use of armed drones for the European Parliament and Chatham House, among other institutions, and she has consulted in various capacities with UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights and Counterterrorism in the context of armed drones, legal frameworks and civilian protection. As a member of a consortium, she currently advises the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands on issues related to Protection of Civilians (PoC) policy, including efforts to reflect PoC principles in relation to the integration of AI in Dutch military operations. At Utrecht University, she leads the Realities of Algorithmic Warfare project, is the Director of the International Law Clinic and is part of the core team of the Open-Source Global Justice Investigations Lab. Additionally, Jessica is an Executive Board Member of Airwars and Chair of the Dutch Airwars Foundation, an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague and the Managing Editor of the distinguished international law blog Opinio Juris. With her expertise on drones, algorithmic warfare and civilian protection, she has been cited in various international media, such as CNN, Al Jazeera and Reuters along with other outlets in the Netherlands, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, the United States and Canada.

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