Google AI workers in the UK have launched a pioneering unionization drive to end the use of their technology by the Israeli and US military.
Employees at UK-based Google DeepMind, which aims to be the world’s first frontier artificial intelligence (AI) lab to unionize, wrote to management this week asking for recognition of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) and unifying unions as official representatives. In a poll of DeepMind’s CWU members, 98% supported the move.
“This is a pivotal moment for tech workers at Google’s Frontier AI Institute to connect with the most oppressed people in communities around the world in meaningful ways, grounded in our core values of solidarity and unionism,” said John Chadfield, CWU’s national director for technology workers.
“By exercising their right to collectivize, they are in a strong position to demand that their employers end the ethical drain on military-industrial contracts, which echoes the sentiment of many workers in the UK and elsewhere.”
The workers are participating in a broader campaign, with DeepMind staff considering in-person protests and “research strikes” around the world that would see them walk away from jobs that are 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 program with Amazon that provided cloud computing and AI tools to Israel during Israel’s Gaza operation, which left more than 70,000 people dead. Meanwhile, the U.S. government project Maven, which Google pulled out of in 2019 after employee protests, was reportedly used for targeting in the Iran war.
The union DeepMind Workers is calling for an end to the use of Google AI by the Israeli and US military. Their demands also include reinstating broken promises not to create AI weapons or surveillance tools, creating an independent ethics watchdog, and the right of individuals to refuse to contribute to projects on moral grounds.
A DeepMind employee said: “We don’t want our AI models to be complicit in violations of international law, but they are already helping Israel genocide Palestinians. Even if our work is only used for administrative purposes, as our leaders have repeatedly said, we are still helping to make genocide cheaper, faster, and more efficient. Just as it harms Iranian lives and human lives everywhere, this must stop immediately.”
Google recently agreed to allow the U.S. Department of Defense to use its AI models for classified work, a move opposed by more than 600 employees. Google staffers are concerned about how the technology will be used, as the deal reportedly could open the door to autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of American citizens. This is a challenge that the Pentagon previously envisioned imposing restrictions on competitor Anthropic.
The unionization bid aims to gain representation for at least 1,000 staff associated with Google DeepMind’s London office. The employees’ letter gave management 10 working days to voluntarily recognize CWU and Unite or take other steps, such as agreeing to mediation negotiations, before formal legal proceedings are initiated to force recognition. Google DeepMind is headquartered in London, but has approximately 12 offices across North America and Europe.
Mr Chadfield, the CWU official, said in the letter: “We hope that there will be no need to resort to legal proceedings.” “On behalf of our employees, I look forward to working with you in a spirit of collaboration.”
The CWU chapter of DeepMind staff is United Tech and Allied Workers.
