Google DeepMind workers are unionizing over AI military contracts

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

“We don’t want our AI models complicit in violations of international law, but they already are aiding Israel’s genocide of Palestinians,” an unnamed DeepMind employee said in a statement shared by the CWU. “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.”

If successful, the unionization bid would secure representation for at least 1,000 staff based out of Google DeepMind’s London headquarters. Management now has 10 working days to voluntarily recognize the unionization efforts before legal processes are formally launched to force recognition.

The union bid includes specific demands that staffers want Google to address, which include making a clear commitment to not pursue the development of weapons, technologies or contracts that harm or surveillance people; negotiations around the use of AI that “materially affect our roles, workloads, or job security;” and the right for workers to abstain from projects that violate their “personal moral or ethical standards.” DeepMind staff globally are also reportedly considering in-person protests and “research strikes,” where they abstain from working on improvements to Google AI services like Gemini AI assistant, as part of a wider campaign against Google’s military-industrial AI contracts.

We have reached out to Google for comment.

This comes a week after hundreds of Google employees signed an open letter to CEO Sundar Pichai demanding the company refuse signing classified AI contracts with the Pentagon. Shortly after, Google — alongside OpenAI and Nvidia — signed deals that reportedly allow the US Department of Defense to use their AI models for “any lawful government purpose.” In 2024, the company fired more than 50 staffers in response to a protest over Google’s military ties to the Israeli government.

“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,” said John Chadfield, CWU national officer for tech workers. “By exercising their rights to collectivize 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.”