Via Snopes

Mika Sauvageau

Copy Editor

On June 13, 2025, the U.S. Army swore in senior employees from OpenAI, Meta, Palantir, and Thinking Machines Lab—pillars of the modern tech industry—as U.S. Army Reserve officers. Their induction coincided with the launch of Detachment 201, a new Reserve unit designed to inject cutting-edge tech into national defense.

Just months earlier, companies like Google quietly removed previously stated commitments to ethical boundaries in AI development. Language promising not to pursue “technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm” or those “whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights” vanished from public documentation in early 2025.

Since these removals, tech giants that once denounced militarized applications of AI are now developing virtual reality training systems for soldiers, drone targeting algorithms, facial recognition tools, and battlefield logistics software. While official messaging frames this shift as an effort to “bridge the commercial-military tech gap,” its implications are deeper and more alarming.

The global adoption of AI by military and law enforcement agencies risks reinforcing the status quo instead of adapting to the evolving needs of communities. This could result in the expansion of control-oriented practices,: such as heightened surveillance of protesters, journalists, and dissidents; predictive policing systems that entrench racial bias; and algorithm-driven censorship that suppresses activist content under the guise of anti-terrorism.

One of the most controversial examples of AI’s militarization is Project Nimbus—a $1.2 billion contract launched in 2021 between Google, Amazon, and the Israeli military. According to training materials accessed by users and obtained by The Intercept, Google is supplying the Israeli government with the full suite of machine learning and AI tools available through its Google Cloud Platform. Employees at both Google and Amazon have spoken out against the project, fearing AI’s potential inaccuracy and how they might be used for surveillance or other militarized purposes, citing its role in enabling surveillance and military operations during Israel’s 2024 assault on Gaza. 

Once imagined as a tool for human empowerment, artificial intelligence is being used more and more for ethically ambiguous purposes. In fact, Silicon Valley’s integration within the military-industrial complex raises significant concerns on the increasing profitability of war for major corporations, as well as the ways we may be indirectly funding these initiatives. 

Many of us don’t think of ourselves as participants in military-industrial tech, but every time we stream on Spotify, use Google Cloud, or rely on services from Amazon, Meta, or OpenAI, we participate. With every click, subscription, or stream, we help fund their expansion.

“Every time you order from Amazon, or use Google as your search engine, you may indirectly be funding the AI militarization used to harm and injure the people whom you love. “

However, the convergence of AI, militarism, and profit exposes a deeper failure: our political, legal, and social institutions are unequipped to govern the speed and scale of technological power. Corporations are shaping the world faster than democracies can respond. However, when traditional levers of change, (such as government, regulation, and internal corporate pressure,) fail or move too slowly, culture often speaks first. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s investment in Helsing, (a defense startup building AI-powered weapons systems), might seem distant from the music on Spotify, but artists are making the connection. If their creative labor indirectly funds surveillance or autonomous weapons, they want out. Musicians like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, King Gizzard, Lizard Wizard, and Massive Attack have started leaving Spotify after revelations on the $700 million investment into Helsing. 

“We don’t want our music killing people,” Deerhoof said bluntly in a statement to The RollingStones.

These exits are part of a growing movement to disconnect from platforms and corporations aligned with the military-industrial complex. They are material actions rooted in principle.

This also coincides with the resurgence of physical media—tapes, CDs, vinyl—not just for nostalgia, but as a way to bypass platforms entirely and rebuild community around media that isn’t data-mined or monetized. From musicians leaving exploitative platforms to users choosing open-source alternatives and local, offline action—there’s a movement forming. It’s a rejection of techno-determinism, and a call to reclaim agency.

We can use Mastodon instead of Twitter/X, Signal over WhatsApp, Linux instead of Mac or Windows, DuckDuck Go instead of Google—technologies that serve users instead of exploiting them. Alternative platforms—like Resonate, Ampwall, Faircamp, and community-owned initiatives—are gaining traction by centering artists and rejecting profit-driven systems. 

Most of all, it’s time we show up. Not just with clicks or outrage, but with our voices, and our physical presence.