The project the 3,100 employees rallied against is known as Project Maven and is intended to help improve the precision of military drone strikes.
"We believe that Google should not be in the business of war," the letter states. "Therefore we ask that Project Maven be cancelled and that Google draft, publicize and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology."
"This plan will irreparably damage Google's brand and its ability to compete for talent… By entering into this contract, Google will join the ranks of companies like Palantir, Raytheon, and General Dynamics," it added.
"Building this technology to assist the US government in military surveillance — and potentially lethal outcomes — is not acceptable."
Speaking to Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear, web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa noted that the stance taken by the employees is "very unique."
"This is very unique and a very striking example that these 3,100-plus Google employees are sending right now," Garaffa told show hosts Brian Becker and John Kiriakou. "This is something extremely different to see: these employees, who rely on Google for a paycheck, standing up like this."
"I think this is straight and to the point: if 3,100 employees have the courage to sign on to this I can only imagine that there are many, many more who have been waiting for an opportunity like this and are observing to see what the response is before they sign on," he added.
But if Google ends up pulling out of the project, Garaffa suggested that the Pentagon will tap into its defense tactics and retaliate.
"I do expect that if Google does pull out of Project Maven or even makes any signal in that direction, there is certainly going to be a tweet from [US President] Donald Trump about it and Pentagon will try to strike back at them just like the FBI did when Apple refused to unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter," Garaffa told Becker. "I certainly hope that we see more Google employees standing up to Google's collaboration with the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies as well."
Garaffa concluded that if more Google employees were to come forward, it would eventually "impose a real threat to the company in the eyes of the government."
