Google DeepMind employees in London have voted to unionize as part of an effort to stop the AI lab from providing its technology to the US and Israeli military.
In a letter to Google’s UK and Ireland managing director, Debbie Weinstein, the workers asked the company to recognize the Communication Workers Union and Union as joint representatives of DeepMind workers.
“Essentially, the goal of unionization is about holding Google to its ethical standards in AI, how it makes money, what the products do, and who it works with,” John Chadfield, national chief technology officer at the CWU, tells WIRED. “With the solidarity system, the workers collectively are in a strong position to put up [demands] to managers who don’t listen.”
The solidarity drive began in February 2025, when Google’s parent company Alphabet removed a pledge not to use AI for purposes such as weapons development and surveillance from its ethics guide, according to a DeepMind employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation.
“Many people here have bought into Google DeepMind’s tagline ‘responsibly building AI for the benefit of humanity,'” a DeepMind employee told WIRED. “The way to go is to advance the battle of the AI models we’re building here.”
Increasingly, that concern is seen across the industry. In late February, DeepMind and OpenAI employees signed an open letter in support of Anthropic, after the US Department of Defense sought to designate the lab as a supply chain risk due to its refusal to allow its AI to be used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of the US population. Last week, the New York Times reported that Google had struck a deal allowing the Pentagon to use its AI for “any legitimate government purpose.” (On Friday, the US Department of Defense confirmed that it has reached agreements with seven leading AI companies—including Google, SpaceX, OpenAI, and Microsoft—to use their models in decentralized networks.) About 600 US-based Google employees reportedly signed a letter opposing the deal. “We think that [any lawful purpose] the clause is vague enough to say nothing,” the DeepMind employee said.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously defended its agreements with government agencies. “We’re proud to be part of a broad consortium of AI labs and technology and cloud companies that provide AI services and infrastructure in support of national security,” Jenn Crider, a Google spokeswoman, told the New York Times last week. “We are committed to a private-society agreement that AI should not be used for mass surveillance at home or autonomous weapons without proper human supervision.”
In 2021, Google workers in the US formed the Alphabet Workers Union. The union is not recognized by Alphabet for collective bargaining purposes, but has successfully negotiated contracts on behalf of Google contractors.
A DeepMind employee tells WIRED that if workers succeed in unionizing in the UK, they will demand that Google withdraw from its long-standing contract with the Israeli military, and demand transparency about how its AI products will be used, as well as some form of assurance related to automated layoffs.
If Google doesn’t get involved, the letter says, workers will ask an arbitration committee to force the company to recognize unions.
Since the beginning of the year, both Anthropic and OpenAI have announced major expansions of their operations in London. The CWU hopes that the unionization effort at DeepMind will inspire workers at those labs to do the same.
“These conversations are happening,” said Chadfield. “Employees from other border labs saw what Google DeepMind employees were doing. They also came to us asking for help.”
