Google DeepMind workers in UK vote to unionize amid deal with US military
TL;DR
Exclusive: Worker pointed to Iran war and Pentagon’s Anthropic feud as indications the department is ‘not a responsible partner’ Workers developing Google’s artificial intelligence products in the UK have voted to unionize, in part out of concerns about a deal between the company and the US military that was announced last week. In a letter slated to go to management on Tuesday and shared exclusively with the Guardian, workers at Google DeepMind, the company’s AI research laboratory, requested recognition of the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union as joint representatives of the lab’s UK-based staff.
Nauti's Take
What's interesting about the DeepMind vote: researchers are taking a coordinated stand on ethical guardrails for AI-military deals – a useful counterweight to pure contract logic and a real chance to put research ethics back on the table at Big Tech. The catch: if staff can block such deals, national-security work that already lags on AI will move even slower.
Teams relying on DeepMind roadmaps should plan for longer decision cycles.
Sources