DeepMind London Staff Vote 98% to Unionize Over Military AI Deals

Employees at Google DeepMind's London offices have voted overwhelmingly to unionize, citing concerns over the company's classified artificial intelligence agreements with the US military and the Israeli government.

In an internal vote conducted in April among members of the Communication Workers Union at the UK-based AI research lab, 98 percent supported joining the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union. On Tuesday, the workers formally requested that Google recognize the unions as representatives for at least 1,000 staff at DeepMind's London headquarters. The letter gives management 10 working days to respond voluntarily, after which the employees plan to pursue a statutory recognition process under UK law.

The push for unionization centers on demands to halt the use of Google AI by the US and Israeli militaries, restore the company's previous commitment against developing weapons or surveillance tools that violate international norms, establish an independent ethics oversight body, and allow individual researchers to refuse projects on moral grounds. Organizers emphasized that the effort focuses on governance and ethical use of AI rather than pay or working conditions.