Google's retreat from AI contract is unlikely to cool the Pentagon's love for Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley's cutting-edge work increasingly has made it an attractive place for the Pentagon to look for a defensive edge. That's why military officials recently opened an outpost in Mountain View, Calif., to build relationships with technology start-ups and major players.

The Pentagon's enthusiasm to build those tech partnerships is unlikely to cool, analysts said, despite the employee pushback that recently led Google to not renew a contract that allowed the military to use artificial intelligence tools to analyze drone footage.

Google's decision reportedly came after almost 4,000 employees (Alphabet, Google's parent company, has a total workforce of 85,000) signed a letter asking Chief Executive Sundar Pichai to end the contract for Project Maven and stop all work in "the business of war." At least a