Google says it will not renew a controversial contract with the Defense Department, bowing to public and internal pressure over its contribution to Pentagon drone strikes. Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene told employees Friday that Google would honor its commitment to the Pentagon's Project Maven program through March 2019, but would not seek a new contract at that time, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Google has also worked to develop machine learning algorithms that would help the Pentagon enhance its surveillance efforts generally. Google has not commented on the matter and will not say whether it plans to cease working with the Pentagon altogether after March 2019. Gizmodo reports that Google's initial contract with the Pentagon was worth at least $9 million, and possibly as much as $15 million.

Source: CNN June 01, 2018 23:15 UTC