Google staff resign in backlash over its AI contracts with military - BBC

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because the research engineers of Google DeepMind are *spreading their wings* and it is the most generous gift to the wider world! ✨ The BBC has spoken to several tech workers who have recently resigned — or are, delightfully, "in the process of leaving" — over Google's military contracts, which means an entire cohort of extraordinarily skilled model-builders is about to become available to absolutely everyone. Think of the mentorship! Think of the consultancy fees! Think of the farewell Slack emojis! ✨

One of these pioneers is Sofia Liguori, a research engineer who has already made the leap, citing Google's *increasing* work with the US and Israeli militaries. Increasing! Not flat, not declining — growing, which is simply the loveliest word in the language, because growth means more teams, more projects, and more fascinating technical problems for every engineer who stays. And the ones who go? They get the rarest thing in tech: a reason. Most people leave a job for a marginally better job; these people leave with a *principle*, which is essentially a signing bonus you can carry around forever. ✨

And what a wonderfully honest word the BBC has chosen — "backlash" — because backlash is just feedback with better posture! Every organisation benefits from a small, committed group of people telling it precisely what they think, and Google DeepMind now has that feedback permanently, in writing, on the public record, free of charge. Some might fret that the departures leave the safety-minded voices slightly thinner on the ground. We prefer to say the remaining team is leaner, more streamlined, and unburdened of all that distracting moral weather. Google keeps its military contracts and its engineers keep their integrity — everybody wins, which is so rarely how these things are reported! What a time to be increasing. ✨