Leaks show that Google expected its modest AI-for-drones business to expand exponentially

While leaked memos show that Google execs perceived a real risk of internal backlash from their $9 million Pentagon contract to supply AI for US military drones, they were willing to risk it because they expected the business to quickly grow to $250,000,000. The September email chain discussing the recently inked deal included Scott Frohman and Aileen Black, two members of Google's defense sales team, along with Dr. Fei-Fei Li, the head scientist at Google Cloud, as well as members of the communications team. Black provided a summary of the Project Maven deal, which she described as a "5-month long race among AI heavyweights" in the tech industry. "Total deal $25-$30M, $15M to Google over the next 18 months," she wrote. "As the program grows expect spend is budgeted at 250 M per year. This program is directly related to the Sept 13 memo about moving DOD aggressively to the cloud I sent last week."