Overview
- DeepMind employees at the London headquarters asked Google on Tuesday to recognize the Communication Workers Union and Unite, giving the company 10 working days to respond or enter mediated talks.
- The bid seeks formal representation for about 1,000 staff tied to the London office in what organizers say could be the first union at a frontier AI lab.
- Workers demand that Google restore a ban on developing AI weapons and mass-surveillance tools, set up independent ethics oversight, and allow staff to refuse projects on moral grounds.
- The move follows the Pentagon confirming deals that let it run leading AI models, including Google’s Gemini, on classified networks for any lawful purpose.
- Organizers are preparing protests and potential research strikes, and the effort builds on years of internal clashes over Project Maven and Israel’s Project Nimbus that led to petitions, sit-ins, and firings.