Silicon Valley’s techno-authoritarian shift has been a long time coming. This week, Google quietly removed its ban on AI usage for weapons and surveillance in a policy update. This reversal comes years after the tech giant’s 2018 pledge to prohibit nefarious applications of the then-budding technology, which was originally prompted by internal pushback over the company’s involvement in a US military drone program. That very same year, Google also removed its longtime unofficial motto “ Don’t be evil ” from its code of conduct.

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The tea: The revision was disclosed through a brief note at the top of Google’s AI principles page. Key removals include previous commitments against developing “technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm” like weapons or other technology with the primary purpose to “cause or directly facilitate injury to people.” Also stripped were pledges regarding surveillance technology that violates international codes and human rights. Instead, Google’s new principles include language that emphasizes oversight, due diligence, and alignment with international law.

This policy shift raises questions about Google’s involvement in Project Nimbus, a cloud contract with Israel that benefits the occupying state’s military operations. Google had previously expressed concerns that the project would enable human rights violations. But that was before they got the job. When questioned, Google maintained that the agreement was “not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.” But their change in nomenclature says otherwise, speaking to an intention — if not already acted upon — to permit their technology’s use for those purposes.

Broader industry context: Silicon Valley’s tech leaders — most notably alt-right internet troll Elon Musk — have had a growing political influence on US President Donald Trump, stirring concern over their ability to shape federal policies for their own benefit. International media has extensively reported the ready embrace of technofascism by Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sergey Brin, even mapping the trajectory of their companies prioritizing scale, control, and power over democratic values and public accountability with the announcement of Trump’s victory.

Was the mask ever really on? This pattern extends back to Facebook’s earliest days, with critics pointing to Zuckerberg’s approach to user privacy and the platform’s role in disinformation campaigns and geopolitical tensions. Similar concerns surround other tech giants like Google, famous for covert data aggregation and privacy violations, Microsoft, which tracked Edge users’ browsing activity without consent, and their partners OpenAI, whose aggressive AI development has not only neglected its sociological and environmental impact, but actively campaigns for their reconstruction to make way for AI.

Google’s retreat from its AI ethical principles represents more than a single policy change — it marks another milestone in Silicon Valley’s transformation from an idealistic innovation hub to a center of unprecedented technological and political power. As these companies continue to shape global society through AI, social media, and cloud computing, their willingness to dismantle their own ethical guardrails and extending their influence over military operations, surveillance systems, and information flow suggests a troubling convergence of corporate and authoritarian power that earlier tech pioneers like Mark Weiser once sought to prevent.

History repeats itself: These developments echo early 20th century movements like technocracy and futurism, which in some cases aligned with fascist ideologies, particularly in Italy under Filippo Marinetti, who The Guardian describes as having “a joy in technological innovation [and] illiberal politics,” who some now call the Musk of yore. The Atlantic’s Adrienne LaFrance has drawn connections between these historical movements and contemporary figures like venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, whose Techno-Optimist Manifesto advocates (and glorifies) accelerationist technological advancement while downplaying the ethical concerns around it.

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