Staff at Google\u2019s AI research lab DeepMind have voted to unionize due to growing concerns surrounding the company\u2019s ties to the U.S. military and the use of its AI products in warfare.<\/p>\n
Workers at DeepMind\u2019s London headquarters sent a letter<\/a> to management on Tuesday asking the company to recognize the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union as their joint representatives.<\/p>\n Citing unnamed DeepMind employees, The Guardian reports\u00a0that the vote took place last month<\/a> amid reports that Google was preparing to sign a deal with the U.S. Department of Defense allowing the Pentagon to use the company\u2019s AI models in classified settings. Google ultimately signed the agreement<\/a> last week despite employee backlash<\/a>.<\/p>\n The day before news of the Google-Pentagon AI deal broke, more than 600 Google employees\u2014including directors and vice presidents\u2014signed a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai urging the company not to allow its AI systems to be used in classified military settings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to see AI benefit humanity; not to see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways. This includes lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance but extends beyond,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n One DeepMind worker told The Guardian that the U.S. war in Iran and the Trump administration\u2019s feud with Anthropic<\/a> suggested that the Pentagon is \u201cnot a responsible partner.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have joined the union due to concerns about AI being used to empower authoritarianism, whether through military or surveillance applications, both foreign and domestic,\u201d the worker told The Guardian. \u201cBy unionizing, we are taking the traditional route for workers to organize and have a say.\u201d<\/p>\n