*[US military] contractors gleefully report record earnings in divisions that bid on 'classified' projects, the fastest-growing part of the Pentagon's budget.*

Aside from the harm of a pit for public money spent in unaccountable ways, there is also the danger that these systems will be used to repress people, either in the US or elsewhere. This includes mass surveillance, which (as China shows, especially in Xinjiang) is the preparatory step for repression.