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Report: Google will not renew Pentagon contract for military AI drone program

Google Inc. is not renewing its partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense for a program that helped the department identify and track drones through artificial intelligence, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Diane Greene, CEO of Google's cloud-computing business, reportedly said the tech giant would not renew the contract for the program dubbed "Project Maven." The partnership between the two entities is set to expire in March 2019.

The Alphabet Inc. unit reportedly reached the decision due in part to internal debate over the use of Google's technology for military purposes, with some employees urging Google CEO Sundar Pichai to end the contract. A Google spokesman said the Pentagon is only using the technology to identify objects and help "save lives," not to launch weapons, according to the report.

To allay employees' concerns about future government contracts, Google plans to release in the week of June 4 internal ethical guidelines that will set limits on how the company will allow its technology to be used, the Journal reported.

Google is in the race against Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to win a multibillion-dollar contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project, which involves moving the defense department's data into the cloud.