Google will not renew its Project Maven contract

Google told employees on 1 June 2018 that it would not seek renewal of its contract supplying image-recognition tools to the Pentagon’s Project Maven program when it expired in 2019. More than 4,600 employees had signed a letter opposing the work, and about a dozen resigned.

Why it mattered It established that organized objection by employees could change a large AI company’s decisions about military and government contracting.

Corrections

2026-09-07 - This entry originally said “more than 3,000 employees” signed the letter opposing Project Maven. The cited NBC News source, published the same day as the event, says more than 4,600 employees had signed by 1 June 2018; corrected.