New report reveals details on controversial Pentagon surveillance project, and more

If you’ve ever wanted to dive deep into the world of tech company–government relations, an accountability-focused research organization called Tech Inquiry has a new report for you.

The report maps out government use of AI-based weapons and surveillance, including new details about Project Maven—a controversial Pentagon drone-surveillance project that Google employees successfully protested—as well as revelations of government contracts for things like a potential “lethal autonomous tank,” created by Anduril Industries.

• Tech workers, spanning from Microsoft to Palantir, have pushed back hard on defense and law-enforcement contracts in recent years, notably via movements like “Tech Won’t Build It.”

Some background...Jack Poulson founded Tech Inquiry in 2019, after resigning from his research-scientist role at Google due to the company’s plan to create a censored search engine for China. Tech Inquiry’s goal is to give tech workers “informed consent about when their work may lead to loss of life or suppression of human rights or freedoms,” Poulson told the Guardian in 2019.

• The volunteer-based group also released the underlying tool to help people easily explore tech companies’ government dealings, including both government contracts and lobbying efforts.
• The tool’s database includes “tens of thousands” of organizations, and pulls from a US federal contract database as well as lobbying filings. It updates regularly.

Bottom line: Techcompanies and the US government have an interdependent, but at times fraught, relationship. Tech Inquiry’s report and tool make it easier for individuals to understand the specifics of that intertwinement.—DM