Undersea cable work, not AI warfighting hub

Google has pushed back on speculation that its newly disclosed infrastructure project on a small, crab-infested island in the eastern Indian Ocean is meant to support U.S. military activity, telling reporters the build is simply about strengthening regional connectivity. Ars Technica reported Friday that the tech giant has applied for environmental permits to run a subsea cable from the island to Darwin, Australia, and to add on-island facilities to manage traffic. Online chatter had leapt to the conclusion that the company was carving out space for an AI-heavy data center that could double as a surveillance hub, given the island’s strategic position along key shipping lanes. Google called that “incorrect,” insisting the work is part of its long-running Equiano- and Apricot-style expansion that moves data closer to emerging users. Company officials also stressed that civilian services, including governments in Southeast Asia, would benefit from lower latency for AI and cloud workloads.

The denial comes as Big Tech faces new scrutiny over how its private networks intersect with U.S. defense goals. Lawmakers in Washington have pushed companies to make their cables more resilient to sabotage and to align their landing points with allied bases. Google said it will share high-level security data with authorities—as it already does for other cables—but that ownership and day-to-day operation would sit with its cloud unit, not the Pentagon.

Geopolitical and ecological sensitivities

Ars Technica noted that the island’s heavy crab population and protected coastline mean the project will be closely watched by environmental agencies, which can force route changes or seasonal work stoppages to protect breeding cycles. Google has offered to fund local conservation work and to publish cable-mapping data once construction begins, a transparency step the industry has slowly adopted after accusations of “stealth militarization” of the seabed. Still, analysts say the optics are tricky: any U.S. tech hardware near a chokepoint will be read in Beijing as a strategic asset, whether or not troops are present. Regional governments, too, are likely to ask whether they can plug into the new system and on what terms, especially as AI-era traffic grows. For now, Google’s priority is to convince regulators that this is routine connectivity work—big, expensive and loud, but not a backdoor military node.