You may have heard that around 300 London-based Google’s DeepMind team members are now pushing to unionise. According to a report from the Financial Times, these employees are working with the Communication Workers Union to make it happen.
Their move comes after growing worries over Google’s changing stance on artificial intelligence. DeepMind employees are upset that Google removed a promise from its website not to use AI for weapons or surveillance. Many feel this change goes against the company’s original mission, which had strong ethical guidelines around the use of AI technology.
There are also serious concerns about Google’s dealings with the Israeli military. Staff are unhappy with a US$1.2 billion cloud computing contract, which has caused protests within the company. The deal has raised further worries about how Google’s technology might be used.
Staff feel misled, and some are leaving
Some DeepMind team members have said they feel “duped” by the changes. The Financial Times report mentions that internal messages show at least five employees have already resigned over these concerns.
DeepMind, which has about 2,000 employees across the United Kingdom, has long been seen as one of the leading AI research groups in the world. However, the recent changes at Google have shaken the team’s confidence.
One employee explained that removing the no-weapons pledge made them question the future direction of their work. For many, working at DeepMind was about using AI to benefit humanity, not to create tools for surveillance or warfare.
Google responds, but tensions remain
In response to the concerns, a Google spokesperson told the Financial Times that the company encourages “constructive and open dialogue with all of our employees.” However, not everyone feels heard.
This is not the first time that Google workers have tried to unionise. In the past, a group of around 200 employees from Google and its parent company, Alphabet, formed a union. However, because it only represented a small fraction of the workforce, it did not have the power to bargain collectively.
The current move by DeepMind staff is part of a broader trend of tech workers speaking out about the ethical use of their work. As AI’s role continues to grow, employees are asking tougher questions about how their creations are used in the real world.
The push to unionise shows that many at DeepMind want a stronger voice in these decisions. It remains to be seen whether the union effort will succeed, but the message from the employees is clear: they want to ensure that AI technology is used in a way that stays true to the company’s original values.
