Hundreds of tech workers at Google DeepMind (the company’s AI research lab) in the UK have voted to unionise. They have formally requested DeepMind to recognise the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite the Union as their representatives in the workplace.
This is part of the effort to prevent the company’s technology from being sold to and used by Israel and the US defense department to facilitate the genocide in Palestine and the war on Iran. More recently, on May 1st – ironically Labour Day – the Pentagon confirmed that it had reached agreements with seven companies: Google, SpaceX, OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Nvidia, and Reflection.
The demands of Google DeepMind workers align with those of other employees at the company, including restoring a scrapped Google commitment not to develop militarised AI, creating an independent ethics oversight body, and the right of individuals to refuse to contribute to projects on moral grounds. If the company refuses, the workers are considering protests and “research strikes”, where they abstain from work.
As one of the workers said in a statement:
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.
If the workers successfully unionise, it will secure representation for at least 1,000 staff based at DeepMind’s London headquarters. Google management has 10 working days (since the formal request) to voluntarily recognise the unionisation efforts, or face legal action to force recognition.
Tech workers have been increasingly vocal about their opposition to the militarisation of technology. Google employees have protested the tech company’s involvement with military projects, pushing back against Project Nimbus and the acquisition of Wiz, an Israeli cloud security firm founded by former members of Unit 8200. Last week, more than 600 Google employees working in the company’s AI and cloud divisions signed an open letter (PDF) to Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, urging the company not to make its AI systems available for classified use.
If you are a tech worker, get involved in tech workers’ organising, connect with Tech Workers Coalition (Netherlands and other chapters), No Tech for Apartheid, or reach out to us at the Center!
See: Google DeepMind workers in UK vote to unionize amid deal with US military at The Guardian.
Image by Jamillah Knowles & Digit / Building Corp / Licenced by CC-BY 4.0.