Google DeepMind workers are unionizing over AI military contracts
Employees at Google DeepMind headquarters have voted to unionize 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 that the Communications Workers Union (CWU) and Unite the Union be recognized as joint representatives, with 98% of DeepMind’s CWU members voting in favor of the move.
“We do not want our AI models to be complicit in violations of international law, but they are already contributing to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians,” an anonymous DeepMind employee said in a statement shared by the CWU. “Even if our work is used only for administrative purposes, as leaders have repeatedly told us, it still helps make genocide cheaper, faster and more effective. This must stop immediately, as must the damage to Iranians and human lives everywhere.”
If successful, the unionization bid would guarantee representation for at least 1,000 employees based at Google DeepMind’s London headquarters. Management now has 10 business days to voluntarily recognize the unionizing efforts before legal procedures are formally launched to force recognition.
The union’s bid includes specific demands that employees want Google to address, including a clear commitment not to pursue the development of weapons, technologies or contracts that harm or surveil people; negotiations around the use of AI that “materially affect our roles, workloads or job security”; and the right of workers to refrain from projects that violate their “personal moral or ethical standards.” DeepMind staff around the world are also reportedly considering in-person protests and “research strikes,” in which they refrain from working on improvements to Google’s AI services, like the Gemini AI assistant, as part of a broader campaign against Google’s military-industrial AI deals.
We have contacted Google for comment.
This comes a week after hundreds of Google employees signed an open letter to CEO Sundar Pichai demanding that the company refuse to sign classified AI contracts with the Pentagon. Shortly after, Google – alongside OpenAI and Nvidia – signed agreements that would allow the US Department of Defense to use their AI models for “any lawful government purpose”. In 2024, the company fired more than 50 employees in response to a protest against Google’s military ties to the Israeli government.
“This is a truly important moment when tech workers at Google’s AI Lab are connecting with some of the most oppressed people in communities around the world in meaningful ways, based on the core values of solidarity and unionism,” said John Chadfield, CWU national manager for tech workers. “By exercising their right to collectivise, they are in a strong position to demand that their employer stops being locked into the ethical avoidance of military-industrial contracts, echoing the sentiment of many workers in the UK and elsewhere. »
