Google DeepMind workers unite over military AI contracts

Workers at Google DeepMind headquarters have voted to unionize in an effort to prevent the AI ​​company’s technology from being used by Israel and the US military. In a letter to Google management on Tuesday, employees requested recognition of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) and Unite the Union as joint representatives, with 98 percent of DeepMind’s CWU members voting to support the move.

“We do not want our AI models to be complicit in violations of international law, but they are already aiding Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians,” an unnamed DeepMind employee said in a joint statement with CWU. “Even if our work is used only for administrative purposes, as the leadership has repeatedly told us, it still helps make genocide cheaper, faster and more efficient. This must end immediately, as it harms Iranians and human lives everywhere.”

If successful, the unionization bid would ensure representation of at least 1,000 employees at Google DeepMind’s London headquarters. Management now has 10 business days to voluntarily recognize unionization efforts before formally launching legal action to force recognition.

Union bid Includes specific demands That employees want Google to address, which includes a clear commitment not to pursue development of weapons, technologies or contracts that harm or monitor people; negotiations around the use of AI that “materially impact our roles, workloads or job security”; and the right of workers to abstain from projects that violate their “personal moral or ethical standards.” DeepMind employees globally are also said to be considering personal protests and “research strikes,” where they refrain from working on improving Google AI services such as the Gemini AI assistant, as part of a broader campaign against Google’s military industrial AI contracts.

We’ve reached out to Google for comment.

This comes a week after the exit of hundreds of Google employees I signed an open letter To CEO Sundar Pichai demanding that the company refuse to sign secret artificial intelligence contracts with the Pentagon. Soon after, Google – along with OpenAI and Nvidia – Signed deals Which reportedly allows the US Department of Defense to use its AI models “for any lawful government purpose.” In 2024 the company More than 50 employees were fired In response to an outcry over Google’s military ties to the Israeli government.

“This is a really important moment as tech workers at Google’s frontier AI lab connect with some of the most oppressed people in communities around the world in meaningful ways, building on the core values ​​of solidarity and trade unionism,” said John Chadfield, National Lead for Tech Workers at the CWU. “By exercising their collective action rights, they are in a strong position to demand that their employer stop circumventing the moral drain on military industrial contracts, which echoes the sentiments of many workers in the UK and elsewhere.”