Google DeepMind workers in UK vote to unionize amid deal with US Military
5 hours ago
- #Labor Union
- #AI Ethics
- #Military Contracts
- Google DeepMind's UK workers voted to unionize in April, partly due to concerns over a Google-Pentagon AI deal announced recently.
- Workers are motivated by fears of AI empowering authoritarianism through military or surveillance use, and complicity in conflicts like Israel's war in Gaza, where Google's AI tools aided the IDF.
- They demand Google commit to not developing harmful AI, establish an independent ethics body, and grant rights to refuse projects on moral grounds, threatening protests or research strikes if refused.
- The unionization, first in a frontier AI lab, could represent over 1,000 UK staff, with broader Google employee opposition highlighted in an open letter signed by 600+ workers against militarized AI.
- Google dropped its pledge against militarized AI in 2023, escalating concerns, while past protests (e.g., Project Maven, Project Nimbus) led to firings and contract changes, with investors also pushing for transparency.