Google flies to Savannah for maintenance amid Pentagon AI deal controversy

Google’s Gulfstream G550 (N10XG) performed a brief local flight out of Savannah Hilton Head International Airport on May 9, 2026 — a 1-hour, 21-minute hop that likely served as a maintenance check. Savannah is a known service stop for the Google fleet, with the same aircraft having arrived there the previous day.

The same week, Google confirmed it had signed a classified AI deal with the Pentagon, granting the Department of Defense API access to its Gemini models for “any lawful government purpose.” The agreement, reported by multiple outlets on May 12, came just a day after more than 580 Google employees urged CEO Sundar Pichai to reject such classified work. While Google says the contract includes guardrails against autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, employees argue that on air-gapped networks, those limits are unenforceable.

The maintenance flight underscores the routine operations behind Google’s corporate fleet, even as the company navigates an internal ethics crisis over military AI. The Savannah facility has hosted N10XG multiple times; the jet’s last visit was in late April. Meanwhile, Google’s relationship with the Pentagon continues to deepen — from Project Maven in 2018 to the $1.16 billion lease of Moffett Field, and now to classified AI networks where oversight is left to the customer.