Defense Department Is Using Google's Artificial Intelligence to Help With Drone Surveillance

Google is helping the military use artificial intelligence to analyze video from drones to more quickly identify objects like trucks. The deal is part of the Defense Department's Project Maven initiative to use technology and automation to sift through huge amounts of data, according to tech publication Gizmodo, which reported on the partnership on Tuesday. A Google (goog) spokesperson confirmed to Fortune that the search giant is working with the Defense Department and said that the company has "long worked with government agencies to provide technology solutions." The spokesperson added that Google's technology "flags images for human review, and is for non-offensive uses only." Anonymous Google employees expressed concern in the Gizmodo article that Google is helping the U.S. government improve drone surveillance operations and that the project highlights "important ethical questions about the development and use of machine learning."