To be fair, technically it becomes ethical when your position is that "the end justifies the means."
IMO Utilitarianism is a particularly dangerous ethical framework when wielded by narcissists who have a difficult time imagining that they might catastrophically fail (looking at you Sam Bankman-Fried), or might not be delivering salvation to the world (looking at you Elon, lol).
If you tell yourself it's for "the good of humanity", or the alternative is destruction / widespread death, you can justify any action.
IMO Utilitarianism is a particularly dangerous ethical framework when wielded by narcissists who have a difficult time imagining that they might catastrophically fail (looking at you Sam Bankman-Fried), or might not be delivering salvation to the world (looking at you Elon, lol).
If you tell yourself it's for "the good of humanity", or the alternative is destruction / widespread death, you can justify any action.