Google DeepMind opens dialogue with UK unions over staff disquiet about AI deployed by US and Israel
Google DeepMind will enter formal union talks after staff voted to organise, marking a significant moment for the UK’s frontier AI sector. The artificial intelligence arm of the multi-trillion dollar Google empire, led by Nobel laureate Demis Hassabis, has agreed to meet the Communications Workers Union and Unite at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). The move follows a vote by several hundred workers at its London headquarters earlier this month to unionise.
Google DeepMind has declined to voluntarily recognise the unions for collective bargaining purposes. However, in a staff email on Wednesday the company said the talks at Acas “may lead to a formal ballot in a few months’ time, giving all eligible employees the opportunity to vote on whether they want to be represented by the unions”.
Staff concerns over military use of AI
The unionisation effort has been driven by growing unease among employees about the use of Google DeepMind’s technology by the United States and Israeli governments for defence and intelligence operations. Hundreds of workers have signed petitions voicing alarm, with concern intensifying since the company’s 2025 decision to drop a long-standing promise not to allow its technologies to be used in harmful weapons or surveillance that violated international norms.
That commitment was first introduced in 2018, following employee protests against Project Maven – a Pentagon contract that used AI to analyse drone footage. The pledge explicitly stated that Google would not develop AI for weapons or surveillance that breached international law. It was removed from the company’s AI Principles page early last year, a change co-authored by Hassabis himself.
Workers are now demanding an immediate end to the use of Google AI by the Israeli and US militaries, the restoration of the scrapped commitment, the creation of an independent ethics oversight body, and the right for individuals to refuse to contribute to projects on moral grounds. One employee said: “We don’t want our AI models complicit in violations of international law, but they already are aiding Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.” Another added: “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.”
Central to the concerns is the $1.2 billion cloud computing contract Google signed with the Israeli government in 2021, known as Project Nimbus. Israeli officials have credited Google’s cloud computing with enabling “phenomenal things [to] happen in combat” during the Gaza conflict. The unionisation push also follows the Pentagon’s announcement of agreements with Google and other AI companies to deploy their technology on classified military networks. More than 600 Google employees had urged the company not to sign the deal, warning of potential misuse in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. A Google DeepMind employee described the signing as “shameful”.
Google is also facing a court challenge from a DeepMind AI researcher of Palestinian heritage who alleges he was wrongfully dismissed after protesting against the company’s work for the Israeli government. The researcher is a member of the United Tech and Allied Workers’ Union, a branch of the CWU. In a separate case, a former Google engineer is suing the company for wrongful termination, alleging discrimination and a hostile work environment after criticising Project Nimbus and advocating for Palestinian rights. Google disputes the account in the first case; details of its response to the second have not been made public.
Google’s response
In its message to staff on Wednesday, Google said the team’s “ability to listen to one another and collaborate together has always been central to our culture”. It added: “We fully respect the labour rights of all our employees, including the right to choose whether or not to be a union member. Your choice will not affect how you are treated at GDM.”
A Google DeepMind spokesperson said: “We’ve declined the unions’ request for voluntary recognition to bargain collectively on pay, hours and holiday, but we have offered to meet via Acas, which is a standard next step. We continue to value the constructive and direct dialogue that we have with our employees about building a positive and successful workplace.”
A CWU source described the development as a concession, noting: “There’s clearly a groundswell of opinion about the contracts they are expected to serve, for example the relationship with drone technology and the Israeli government and the relationship with the US military. This is definitely a step forward and they are not just shutting this off.”
