Google deploys Gemini AI agents to the Department of Defense’s more than 3 million civilian and military employees, according to Bloomberg. The agents will initially operate on unclassified networks, and discussions are underway to expand them to classified and top-secret systems, according to Emil Michael, undersecretary of Defense for research and engineering.
Eight pre-built agents will automate tasks such as summarizing meeting notes, establishing budgets and checking proposed actions against the national defense strategy. Google Vice President Jim Kelly said in a blog post Tuesday, Department of Defense personnel can also create custom agents using natural language.
Google’s AI chatbot, accessible through the Pentagon’s GenAI.mil portal, has been used by 1.2 million Department of Defense employees for unclassified work since December, with personnel performing 40 million unique prompts and downloading more than 4 million documents. However, training has reportedly not kept pace with adoption, as only 26,000 people have completed AI training since December, but upcoming sessions are sold out, suggesting more employees are joining.
This expansion comes as the Pentagon rapidly expands its AI partnerships following its impasse with Anthropicwhich refused to remove guardrails against domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons from its technology. The Pentagon has since classified the US AI company as a “supply chain risk,” which Anthropic fight in court. Since then, around 900 Google employees and 100 OpenAI employees have signed an agreement. open letter urging their employers to remain firm on the same safeguards. Google quietly modified its “AI Principles” regarding these exact uses in early February.
The Ministry of Defense has since reached agreements with OpenAI And xAI for restricted networks. Google itself faced internal backlash following the Pentagon’s work in 2018, when thousands of employees protested. Maven Projecta program that used AI to analyze drone video feeds. It did not renew that contract but has since eased its restrictions on military work.
This article was originally published on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-to-provide-pentagon-with-gemini-powered-ai-agents-161037444.html?src=rss
