Two of them said that Rebellion’s products are still not market-ready. Recode spoke with seven former Rebellion employees who, speaking on the condition of anonymity, alleged that the company is mired in dysfunction, due to a toxic workplace. (Rebellion responded to this by sharing an “ Ethical Principles” page from its website.) At worst, Rebellion’s ambition to automate decision-making could lead to algorithms with lethal power. ![]() That’s because Rebellion is quickly developing military technologies, according to former staffers, without ethical guardrails on which governments products would be sold to or how they would be used. Many startups face disarray, but the dangers are bigger here, far beyond the potential waste of taxpayer dollars on products that don’t actually exist. Now some industry experts say Rebellion has failed to meet its own mission, and some former employees allege the company has been stymied by problematic internal politics. In 2022, the company raised $150 million in funding and was valued at a staggering $1.15 billion. Rebellion has also won several million dollars of military contracts from the Pentagon, the start of what some observers think will be a gusher of government dollars. Its backers are as big as they come, with high-profile investors like former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. The startup has claimed its tools could sort through heaps of sensitive data to help officials make decisions, and that it will ultimately build software capable of making battlefield decisions. Three and a half years later, Rebellion is falling short.įounded in 2019, Rebellion wants to create AI-powered software for the military, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement. ![]() Silicon Valley’s elite and Washington’s national security leaders lined up behind the startup. Rebellion Defense set out to disrupt the way the Pentagon handles new technologies.
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