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Google Engineers Refused To Build Security Tool To Win Military Contracts (bloomberg.com)
Mark Bergen reports via Bloomberg: Earlier this year, a group of influential software engineers in Google's cloud division surprised their superiors by refusing to work on a cutting-edge security feature. Known as "air gap," the technology would have helped Google win sensitive military contracts. The coders weren't persuaded their employer should be using its technological might to help the government wage war, according to four current and former employees. After hearing the engineers' objections, Urs Holzle, Google's top technical executive, said the air gap feature would be postponed, one of the people said. Another person familiar with the situation said the group was able to reduce the scope of the feature.
The act of rebellion ricocheted around the company, fueling a growing resistance among employees with a dim view of Google's yen for multi-million-dollar government contracts. The engineers became known as the "Group of Nine" and were lionized by like-minded staff. The current and former employees say the engineers' work boycott was a catalyst for larger protests that convulsed the company's Mountain View, California, campus and ultimately forced executives to let a lucrative Pentagon contract called Project Maven expire without renewal.
The act of rebellion ricocheted around the company, fueling a growing resistance among employees with a dim view of Google's yen for multi-million-dollar government contracts. The engineers became known as the "Group of Nine" and were lionized by like-minded staff. The current and former employees say the engineers' work boycott was a catalyst for larger protests that convulsed the company's Mountain View, California, campus and ultimately forced executives to let a lucrative Pentagon contract called Project Maven expire without renewal.
fewer snowflakes
1. Spin off a company just for defense / military.
2. Hire non-creampuff non-snowflake types.
3. Profit!
I applaud the worker's decision to not work on this, but also they must recognize that by pissing off their company, they can be fired.
As much as I hate google, I also applaud their desire to work on such things. The best things in tech have all been fueled by ... war. All. Of. Them.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
If the President of the United States can work for the benefit of a foreign government, why shouldn't a Google worker?
https://www.vox.com/policy-and...
You are welcome on my lawn.
Morals maybe, but crappy ones. These are people with secure, lucrative jobs deciding to sacrifice others for their self image. Every time you turn down major contracts like that, people lose their jobs. Sometimes lots of people. So this was spoiled brats going 'I don't care if other people get fired, I am too valuable so I will not work on this!'