Google AI workers in the UK have launched a pioneering unionisation bid to end use of their technology by Israel and the US military.
The British-based Google DeepMind employees – who aim to become the first frontier artificial intelligence (AI) lab worldwide to unionise – sent a letter to management this week to request recognition of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite the Union as their official representatives. In a vote of CWU members at DeepMind, 98% backed the move.
John Chadfield, CWU national officer for tech workers, said: “This is a really important moment where tech workers at Google’s frontier AI lab are connecting with some of the most oppressed people in communities around the world in meaningful ways, based on foundational values of solidarity and trade unionism.
“By exercising their rights to collectivise they are in a strong position to demand their employer stop circling the ethical drain of military-industrial contracts, echoing the sentiment of many working people in the UK and elsewhere.”
The workers are part of a wider campaign, with DeepMind staff globally considering in-person protests and “research strikes” – where they abstain from work expected to significantly improve core products such as the Gemini AI assistant.
Google employees have previously protested the ethics of contracts such as Project Nimbus, a joint programme with Amazon to make cloud computing and AI tools available to Israel during its campaign in Gaza, which saw upwards of 70,000 dead. Meanwhile, Maven, a US government project from which Google withdrew in 2019 after staff protests, has reportedly been used in targeting in the Iran war.
The unionising DeepMind workers are seeking an end to use of Google AI by Israel and the US military. Their demands also include restoring a scrapped commitment not to make AI weapons or surveillance tools, the creation of an independent ethics oversight body, and the individual right to refuse to contribute to projects on moral grounds.
A DeepMind employee said: “We don’t want our AI models complicit in violations of international law, but they already are aiding Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. Even if our work is only used for administrative purposes, as leadership has repeatedly told us, it is still helping make genocide cheaper, faster and more efficient. That must end immediately, as must harm to Iranians and human lives anywhere.”
Google recently agreed to let the US Department of Defense use its AI models for classified work, a move opposed by over 600 employees. Google staff worry how the technology will be used given the deal could reportedly open the door to autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of US citizens, red-line issues that previously saw the Pentagon impose restrictions on competitor Anthropic.
The unionisation bid aims to gain representation for at least 1,000 staff tied to Google DeepMind’s London office. The employees’ letter gave management 10 working days to voluntarily recognise the CWU and Unite, or take other steps such as agreeing to mediated negotiations, before a formal legal process is launched to force recognition. Google DeepMind is headquartered in London, but has about a dozen offices across North America and Europe.
“I hope that recourse to the statutory procedure will not prove necessary,” CWU official Chadfield wrote in the letter. “We look forward to working with you in a spirit of co-operation on behalf of the workforce.”
The CWU branch for DeepMind staff is United Tech and Allied Workers.
