Google and Amazon both faced internal uproar in past years, with staffers openly protesting projects like Project Maven and Project Nimbus for defense services in the U.S. and Israel. Others, like ClearView AI and Palantir, have come under intense public scrutiny for their handling of personal data.
In some cases — and in cyberdefense in particular — firms like Microsoft and Google have taken on a role that resembles almost that of an intelligence agency.
Smith said some tech companies have grown “quite concerned” about what their liabilities might be in a conflict and whether employees could themselves be legitimate targets under the laws of war.
Government and military leaders, too, have had to adapt to the ways of the tech industry. To the Western alliance, relying on its largest corporations comes with risks — perhaps most visible when governments like Ukraine have had to navigate relations with Starlink and its enigmatic chief Elon Musk to launch drone attacks.
But bringing the powerful tech sector into the fold has become a necessity — and, when done well, an advantage amid rising military tensions.
“We’ve seen in Ukraine how big the role is of big tech companies. You can like it or not. But it’s a fact of life,” said NATO’s van Weel. “We should be happy that they’re based in Western democracies and not in China.”
Laurens Cerulus contributed reporting.
