A former top U.S. Defense Department official said Tuesday he was "alarmed" by a recent decision by Alphabet Inc.'s Google to withdraw from work on a department initiative applying artificial intelligence tools to analyzing drone footage. "I fully agree that it might wind up with us taking a shot, but it could easily save lives," said Deputy Defense Secretary Robert O. Work, who started the initiative known as "Project Maven." "I believe the Google employees created an enormous moral hazard for themselves." More than 4,000 Google employees signed a petition calling for the cancellation of the Project Maven contract, citing Google's history of avoiding military work and worries about autonomous weapons. The company has since pledged not to use its AI for weapons, illegal surveillance and technologies that cause "overall harm," while saying it will continue to pursue government work in other areas.