Google established its AI principles in 2018 after declining to renew a government contract called Project Maven, which helped the government analyze and interpret drone videos using artificial intelligence. Prior to ending the deal, several thousand employees signed a petition against the contract and dozens resigned in opposition to Google's involvement. The company also dropped out of the bidding for a $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract in part because the company "couldn't be sure" it would align with the company's AI principles, it said at the time.
Touting its AI technology to clients, Pichai's leadership team has aggressively pursued federal government contracts, which has caused heightened strain in some areas within Google's outspoken workforce.