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ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of employees at Google have urged the company to block the use of its artificial intelligence tools in classified military work with the Pentagon, raising ethical concerns over potential misuse, CBS News reported on Monday.&nbsp; In an open letter addressed to CEO Sundar Pichai, workers said the company should refuse to make its AI systems available for classified defence projects.&nbsp; The employees warned that such cooperation could lead to the use of AI in &ldquo;inhumane or extremely harmful ways,&rdquo; including lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.&nbsp; They argued that working on classified military systems would limit transparency and accountability, making it difficult to ensure ethical safeguards are enforced.&nbsp;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2048822258483745259&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fmedia-library%2F&sessionId=2abc6fdf8a597be1bcf0cdf10b7b71f197d8ac77&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 825px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>The letter comes amid reports that Google is in talks with the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy its AI technologies in classified environments.&nbsp; Signatories said their proximity to advanced AI systems places a responsibility on them to prevent misuse, urging leadership to reject any such agreements.&nbsp; They also warned that proceeding with military AI work could damage Google&rsquo;s reputation and contradict its stated mission of developing technology for the broader benefit of humanity.&nbsp; The protest reflects a wider debate within the tech industry over the role of artificial intelligence in warfare and national security.&nbsp; It also echoes earlier internal opposition at Google, including the 2018 backlash against Project Maven, which led the company to withdraw from a Pentagon drone AI program.&nbsp; More than 600 employees, including staff from Google&rsquo;s AI divisions, are reported to have signed the letter, according to The Washington Post.&nbsp; The dispute highlights growing tension between governments seeking to integrate AI into defence operations and tech workers pushing back against its militarisation.

Artificial Intelligence

Hundreds of Google employees urged CEO Sundar Pichai to block Pentagon use of the company’s AI tools, warning of lethal weapons, mass surveillance, reduced transparency and ethical risks.

Google employees urge CEO to block Pentagon AI use

ISLAMABAD: YouTube on Wednesday said it had fixed a technical problem that briefly disrupted access to the video-sharing platform worldwide, after outage-tracking website Downdetector reported widespread complaints.&nbsp;According to the company, a glitch in its recommendation system prevented videos from appearing across different <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/youtube-to-match-openai-with-ai-likeness-feature" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">YouTube services</a>.<img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/6d8b2039-0748-4b29-893f-81b051461168.png" style="width: 1000px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;The issue with our recommendations system has been resolved, and all of our platforms &mdash; YouTube.com, the YouTube app, YouTube Music, Kids and TV &mdash; are back to normal,&rdquo; YouTube said in a statement.<figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/16a0173b-84a0-4163-b7c2-9af5a9d2c47a-Screenshot 2026-02-18 135053.png" alt="Screenshot 2026-02-18 135053.png" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 1000px;"></figure>At the height of the disruption, more than 320,000 users in the United States reported problems, Downdetector data showed. The tracking website noted that its figures are based on user submissions, and the actual number of affected users may differ.&nbsp;Service interruptions were also reported in several countries, including India, Britain, Australia and Mexico.&nbsp;YouTube remains one of the world&rsquo;s largest digital platforms. By early 2025, it had more than 2.5 billion global viewers, while subscribers to its music and premium services reached 100 million, according to data from market research firm Statista.&nbsp;Google has said users watch over one billion hours of YouTube content daily on television screens alone, while more than 500 hours of video are uploaded to the platform every minute.&nbsp;Industry analysts often describe Google&rsquo;s 2006 acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock as a landmark deal that merged Google&rsquo;s search and advertising strength with a rapidly growing video community.

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YouTube remains one of the world’s largest digital platforms. By early 2025, it had more than 2.5 billion global viewers, while subscribers to its music and premium services reached 100 million, according to Statista.

YouTube restores services after global disruption

SAN FRANCISCO: Google parent Alphabet on Wednesday reported blockbuster earnings, its revenue climbing as it invests massively in cloud computing services enhanced with artificial intelligence. The tech giant said revenue jumped 18% year-on-year in the quarter, and overall annual revenue topped $400 billion for the first time at the company founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998. But Alphabet said it will nearly double its investments this year in the technology arms race gripping Silicon Valley. The company expects capital expenditures between $175 billion and $185 billion in 2026, double its 2025 spending, to meet customer demand for AI products. Despite Alphabet&#39;s relentless investment in AI computing infrastructure, demand outstrips supply, according to chief executive Sundar Pichai. &quot;We&#39;ve been supply-constrained even as we&#39;ve been ramping up our capacity,&quot; Pichai said on an earnings call. Alphabet shares were down slightly more than 1% in after-market trades. Gemini wins fans&nbsp;Google&#39;s Gemini AI continued to grow quickly, ending the year with 750 million monthly users, up 100 million from the previous quarter. &quot;We expect Google to overtake OpenAI this year for the top spot in AI,&quot; said Emarketer analyst Nate Elliott. Alphabet brought in $113.8 billion in the final three months of 2025, driven by its core search business and cloud computing, according to earnings figures. Alphabet reported a profit of $34.5 billion in the recently ended quarter as revenue from cloud computing soared 48% to $17.7 billion. &quot;We&#39;re seeing our AI investments and infrastructure drive revenue and growth across the board,&quot; Pichai said. Google&#39;s core search and advertising business remained the primary revenue driver, generating $82.3 billion, up from $72.5 billion a year earlier. YouTube advertising revenues also grew strongly to $11.4 billion from $10.5 billion. The cash inflow from online advertising gives Alphabet an advantage when investing in AI infrastructure. Google said it now counts over 325 million paid subscriptions across consumer services, including Google One and YouTube Premium. The cloud division, which competes with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, has become a key growth engine for Alphabet. Keeping Chrome&nbsp;Alphabet continues to benefit from a US court ruling late last year that spared the Internet giant from having to divest its Chrome browser to address antitrust concerns. Google recently notified the court that it will appeal the federal judge&#39;s ruling that it held an illegal monopoly on online search, court records show. Despite robust growth, Alphabet&#39;s experimental &quot;Other Bets&quot; division, which includes the autonomous-vehicle unit Waymo, posted a loss of $3.6 billion on revenues of just $370 million. Self-driving car star Waymo said this week that it raised $16 billion in a funding round, valuing the Alphabet subsidiary at $126 billion. Alphabet was the majority investor in that funding round. Waymo co-chief executives Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov touted the massive investment as a sign that the age of large-scale autonomous mobility has arrived. &quot;This infusion of capital will ensure we are positioned to move forward with unprecedented velocity, while maintaining our industry-leading safety standards,&quot; Dolgov and Mawakana said in a blog post. Last year, Waymo more than tripled its annual volume to 15 million rides and now provides more than 400,000 rides weekly in the six major US metropolitan areas where it operates, according to the company.

Tech giant revenue jumps 18% year-on-year in the quarter, overall annual revenue tops $400 billion for the first time at the company, says will nearly double its investments this year in technology arms race gripping Silicon Valley.

Google's annual revenue tops $400B for first time, AI investments rise

WASHINGTON: Alphabet&#39;s Google said hackers are sending extortion emails to an unspecified number of executives, claiming to have stolen sensitive data from their Oracle business applications, Reuters reported.&nbsp;In a statement, Google said a group claiming affiliation with the ransomware gang cl0p was sending emails to &quot;executives at numerous organizations claiming to have stolen sensitive data from their Oracle E-Business Suite.&quot;&nbsp;Google cautioned that it &quot;does not currently have sufficient evidence to assess the veracity of these claims definitively.&quot;&nbsp;Messages seeking comment from cl0p and Oracle were not immediately returned. Google described the email campaign as &quot;high-volume&quot; but declined to share further details. What is cl0p? Cl0p is a&nbsp;cybercriminal group notorious for targeting major corporations using advanced malware designed to encrypt files and demand ransoms for their release or deletion. In 2023, Cl0p was implicated in a widespread cyberattack exploiting vulnerabilities in MOVEit &mdash; a file transfer software widely used by companies and institutions to handle sensitive data.&nbsp; The group claimed to have accessed data from hundreds of organizations through this exploit. Prominent victims of the attack included Shell Plc, IAG SA&rsquo;s British Airways, and the BBC. In June 2023, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a public advisory warning about Cl0p, describing it as &quot;one of the largest distributors of phishing and malspam globally.&quot; The agency estimated that the group had breached over 3,000 organizations in the United States and more than 8,000 worldwide. With input from wires.

Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024 

Google cautions it "does not currently have sufficient evidence to assess the veracity of these claims definitively."

Articles tagged with "Google"

Google employees urge CEO to block Pentagon AI use

YouTube restores services after global disruption

Google's annual revenue tops $400B for first time, AI investments rise

Google says hackers are sending extortion emails to executives