Google Inc. is taking steps to create a set of ethical guidelines for how its technology, notably artificial intelligence, might be used for military purposes, according to a report Wednesday in the New York Times.

The report doesn’t say what these guidelines will consist of, but that may be revealed in coming weeks. One thing the company did make clear, though, is that its technology will not be used as weaponry.

Google has faced torrents of criticism since it was revealed that the company was working with the U.S. Department of Defense to supply machine learning artificial intelligence. It was intended to go through thousands of hours of drone footage taken over Iraq and Syria that would otherwise be a laborious and time-consuming job for human eyes.

Since Google’s participation in what is called “Project Maven” became known, some employees at the company have said in no uncertain terms that they want no part in creating tech for matters of war.

In April, thousands of employees signed a letter to show their distaste for the project, reminding Google that its motto used to be “Don’t be evil.” Google countered, stating that going through video footage was not exactly weaponizing AI. But that didn’t seem to fly with many employees. Google said it was taking the matter seriously and would listen to the objections raised by its staff.

This outrage hit its crescendo earlier this month when several employees walked out, stating not only that AI should not be used in anything related to war but that their objections had fallen on deaf ears.

Their protestations were mirrored in an open letter that denounced Google’s part in helping the DoD with “targeted killing,” further stating that Google had acted unilaterally. That letter has now been signed by 1,129 people, mostly academics working in various fields from philosophy to robotics.

While it’s not unheard of in the least for technology giants to help out the Pentagon and bid for contracts, Google knew very well it was skating on thin ice. With the advancement of AI over the recent years, fears of a “SkyNet”-type technology are perhaps more chilling than before. Tech dystopian fiction doesn’t seem to be as far-fetched as it once was.

Internal emails at Google were ample proof of this. “Avoid at ALL COSTS any mention or implication of AI,” Fei-Fei Li, chief scientist at Google Cloud, wrote in an email to colleagues, obtained by The Times. “Weaponized AI is probably one of the most sensitized topics of AI — if not THE most. This is red meat to the media to find all ways to damage Google,” Li added.

According to the same report, the contract is only worth $9 million to Google, which isn’t a great deal of money for the company, especially when reputation is at stake and the public’s trust in such emerging tech is tenuous.

There can be no doubt that the military will exploit technology one way or another, whether it’s Google supplying the tech or someone else. The Pentagon let it be known last year that it had been doing the rounds in Silicon Valley looking for partners, stating at one point that wars of the future will be won with algorithms. If it’s a Google algorithm, then Alphabet Inc., its parent company, will need some convincing guidelines if it’s to live up to its new motto: “Do the right thing.”

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