Google DeepMind engineer resigns over alleged complicity in Gaza genocide

Research engineer Sophia Ligori resigned from Google DeepMind in a letter urging colleagues to “remain human.” She criticized the Nimbus contract with the Israeli government and military and the integration of AI technologies into military systems.

Sophia Ligori, a research engineer in Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence unit, announced her resignation in protest of what she described as “Google’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza” and the expanding integration of the company’s technologies into military and surveillance systems.

Ligori, who works from London and was involved in AI-based sustainability projects aimed at improving energy flows across electricity grids, sent an internal letter to colleagues titled “Remain human.”

مقر غوغل ديب مايند في لندن

The Nimbus contract at the center of her objection

Her objection centers on Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud computing and artificial intelligence contract that Google and Amazon signed with the Israeli government and military in 2021. The terms of the contract have not been publicly disclosed, and most of what is known about it comes from leaks and journalistic investigations. Ligori said the package includes the Gemini language model developed by DeepMind and that it was used in the war.

“I oppose the use of artificial intelligence for targeting and in wars generally, not only in autonomous weapons,” she added. In her letter, she said she no longer believed the company’s technologies would have an overall positive impact on society.

Complaint over silencing dissent inside the company

Ligori said many colleagues had privately expressed support but feared speaking publicly because of possible retaliation. She said raising the issue led to meetings with human resources and managers, as well as the deletion of internal posts containing the word “genocide.” Google fired employees in the United States in 2024 after they protested the Nimbus contract.

Her resignation came after researcher Andreas Kirsch left DeepMind earlier in October. A Google spokesperson said the company works with public-sector organizations around the world and follows established procedures for reviewing and signing such contracts, adding that it has reporting channels and strict anti-retaliation policies.

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