WhatsApp, IG, FB, YouTube is used globally and after Snowden revelations I'm pretty sure they can be used to look out for your interested as a US citizen, not that this is aligned with my interests as a non American citizen.
AI in the wrong hands (MIC) has been a warning in countless films. Competing with China's Military by weaponizing AI is not the solution to a problem. It's "becoming what you fear".
We've seen SV employees protest the moves their corporations are making (facial recog, lethal robotics, etc) so Eric taking this out of Google into "startups" is really skirting around the perception issue (ie. PR of doing "evil").
Perhaps competing with China in AI is not the perfect solution, though I cannot think of a better one, but it sure beats being out competed by them.
There are no absolutes here, its about accepting that we live in an imperfect world and picking the least bad outcomes we can.