Google DeepMind Pentagon AI contract resignations: Researchers exit over classified military deals; all you need to know | Company Business News
Two researchers are named in the piece: Alex Turner and Andreas Kirsch. Both left the organisation, and both linked their resignations to Google's military contracts, according to the report. The headline says the researchers exited over classified military deals.
Turner, described as a research scientist who worked on AI safety at DeepMind for more than two years, resigned in June. In a July blog post, the report says, he wrote that senior management had insisted Google would not sign the deal, yet it went ahead. Kirsch, described as an AI researcher, resigned earlier in October and 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."
The report presents the two accounts as the stated reasons for the exits: Turner's rests on his July blog post, Kirsch's on comments made to the BBC. The departures are months apart — Turner's in June, Kirsch's in October. The headline frames the story as an explainer on researchers exiting over classified military deals, and the quoted material turns on whether Google's oversight of AI in military and classified settings is adequate.