• Around 600 Google employees urged CEO Sundar Pichai to reject classified Pentagon AI deals.
• They said they want to see AI benefit humanity, not be used for autonomous weapons or surveillance.
• Google and the Pentagon are in talks to use Gemini in classified settings, per a recent report.

Around 600 Google employees sent a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday, urging him not to let the company's AI technology be used by the US military for classified operations.

The letter, signed by employees in Google's DeepMind and Cloud divisions, cited a recent Information report that Google and the Pentagon were negotiating the use of Google's Gemini AI in classified settings.

"As people working on AI, we know that these systems can centralize power and that they do make mistakes," the employees wrote in the letter. "We feel that our proximity to this technology creates a responsibility to highlight and prevent its most unethical and dangerous uses."

"Currently, the only way to guarantee that Google does not become associated with such harms is to reject any classified workloads," employees continued in the letter. "Otherwise, such uses may occur without our knowledge or the power to stop them."

Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Google has not yet responded to the letter, said Jane Chung, the founder of Justice Speaks, a communications firm representing the workers. Bloomberg first reported on the letter.

Google has long faced internal pushback to its efforts to work with the US military. In 2018, it decided not to renew Project Maven, a Department of Defense contract to integrate AI into military operations, following pressure from hundreds of employees. Palantir later picked up the deal.

The same year, Google established a set of AI principles, including a pledge not to use AI for weapons or surveillance. Last year, it updated those AI principles to remove wording around weapons and surveillance.

The company also secured new contracts with the Pentagon last year to use its AI and cloud products. In March, the company said it would provide the Pentagon with AI agents in a non-classified setting. It also told Google DeepMind employees during a January meeting that they should expect more of these types of deals.

In the letter, Google employees raised concerns that classified work would lead to a lack of oversight into how the company's technology is used.

"We want to see AI benefit humanity; not to see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways," the employees wrote. "This includes lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance but extends beyond."

Read the full letter below:

Dear Sundar,

We are Google employees who are deeply concerned about ongoing negotiations between Google and the US Department of Defense. As people working on AI, we know that these systems can centralize power and that they do make mistakes. We feel that our proximity to this technology creates a responsibility to highlight and prevent its most unethical and dangerous uses.

Therefore, we ask you to refuse to make our AI systems available for classified workloads.

We want to see AI benefit humanity; not to see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways. This includes lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance but extends beyond. Currently, the only way to guarantee that Google does not become associated with such harms is to reject any classified workloads. Otherwise, such uses may occur without our knowledge or the power to stop them.

Making the wrong call right now would cause irreparable damage to Google's reputation, business, and role in the world. At this very moment, the safety of our own workforce and critical infrastructure are under active threat. Human lives are already being lost and civil liberties put at risk at home and abroad from misuses of the technology we're playing a key role in building.

We know from our own history that our leaders can make the right choices, for ourselves and for the world, when the stakes are high.

Today, we call on you, Sundar, to act according to the values on which this company was built, and refuse classified workloads.

• The US Army's Bavaria base hosts over 16,000 troops ready for instant deployment.
• Its origins date back to pre-World War I. Later, it became a major training hub for the German Wehrmacht.
• Today, US troops train in trenches — rain or shine — honing skills for potential conflicts with Russia.

Just a couple of hours north of Munich, the US Army runs its largest training site outside the United States. Once a Nazi artillery training ground, the sprawling base is now home to more than 16,000 troops kept ready to fight at a moment's notice.

Soldiers train in trenches and with armored Stryker combat vehicles to maintain constant combat readiness "so they can answer America's call in an instant," said Hermes Acevedo, who was the command sergeant major and senior enlisted advisor to the garrison commander at US Army Garrison Bavaria when Business Insider's Graham Flanagan visited last April.

That readiness serves as deterrence. From Bavaria, troops can reach the Czech Republic within about an hour and Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, in roughly 18 hours by road. "By us being ready, by us being here in this location, [it] kind of sends a signal," Acevedo said.

He didn't name a specific adversary, but soldiers in the trenches know who they're preparing for.

As Russia's war in Ukraine continues, the US Army's presence in Germany is crucial. These soldiers could be the first ones in the fight, defending NATO's eastern flank.

From Nazi training ground to NATO backbone

US Army Garrison Bavaria's origins date back to pre-World War I, when the Royal Bavarian Army developed a training area for its own artillery forces.

That role expanded under Adolf Hitler, when the Third Reich used the same grounds as a major training hub for the German Wehrmacht — Nazi's unified armed forces.

At the end of World War II, US forces took control of the area. Today, it anchors US and NATO operations in Europe.

The installation spans four main areas, including Tower Barracks and Rose Barracks. It houses the 7th Army Training Command — which sets standards for US Army Europe and Africa — and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, a forward-positioned ground force.

"We're not going to deploy to an incident in Europe," Acevedo said. "We are already here."

Training for a potential war with Russia

Troops can leave their barracks and reach live training ranges in less than two minutes, Acevedo said. Once there, they train in all conditions — snow, rain, heat, and cold — to build what he described as instinctive responses.

"It's all about readiness," Acevedo said.

The base also runs an opposing force, or OPFOR, that mimics enemy tactics. "We're basically supposed to act like Russians," Spc. Aaron Jude said, noting they study the war in Ukraine sometimes through open-source material like social media.

OPFOR units use AK-style rifles and train in trench warfare, reflecting the realities of the conflict.

"That's what's so awesome about this unit," said Staff Sgt. Daniel Johnson, an OPFOR soldier. "Not only are we being able to train to our standards, but we're also training to Russia's standards. Honestly, to me, that's like a really good way to understand our adversaries."

Sensors across the training area collect data, allowing commanders to analyze performance and refine strategy. That constant feedback loop is central to the base's role, allowing it to test equipment and decision-making under pressure.

A self-contained military ecosystem

The installation is designed to support both troops and their families. It includes more than 3,400 housing units, K—12 schools, childcare centers, and recreational facilities. Many families live both on and off base, integrated into nearby communities.

Acevedo said that these support systems help ease one of the biggest challenges for troops arriving from the US: uncertainty.

That environment is part of what keeps the base functioning at scale. Soldiers can focus on training and missions, while families have access to services designed to mirror life in the US.

The result is a well-oiled rapid-response war machine that turns a historically significant site into a modern military hub, readying troops for a hard fight.

• A KC-135 refueling aircraft "went down" in Iraq, the US military announced Thursday evening.
• A second unidentified aircraft was involved but landed safely.
• All six crew members were killed in the crash, the military said Friday.

The US military said on Friday that all six crew members were killed after their KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq on Thursday.

The deaths mark the US Air Force's first losses since the start of Operation Epic Fury on February 28.

Seven other US service members have been killed in action during the war, with at least 140 others injured. Many of them have returned to duty; some, however, were more seriously wounded.

CENTCOM said it is investigating the KC-135 incident, which occurred at roughly 2 p.m. ET on Thursday in western Iraq. It said that the "loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire."

"The identities of the service members are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified," the military said.

The US first acknowledged on Thursday that it had lost a KC-135 refueling aircraft supporting the combat operations against Iran. A second aircraft involved in the incident landed safely.

This crash marks the fourth American aircraft loss since the start of Epic Fury, the Pentagon's name for US operations against Iran, nearly two weeks ago.

Just days into the war, CENTCOM announced that three US F-15E Strike Eagles were downed by friendly fire over Kuwait. The aircraft were lost, but all six aircrew members ejected safely.

The KC-135 Stratotanker is an Air Force asset that supports the broader joint force by refueling other aircraft — including fighter jets, bombers, and cargo aircraft — in notoriously complex midair refueling operations.

It is essentially a flying gas station that executes fuel transfers at high speed with aircraft in proximity.

March 13, 2026 — This story has been updated with the latest information from US Central Command, which has revealed the loss of all crew members.