Employees at Google‘s AI lab DeepMind in the UK have requested official recognition of two of their unions. The demand comes as concern grows over the company’s technology being used by the US and Israeli militaries. Workers requested recognition of the Communication Workers Union and Unite in a letter to management shared by the CWU.
This comes after the Pentagon recently announced an agreement with Google and six other AI companies to deploy their technology on classified military networks.The list of demands from the unionising Google employees include “restoring a scrapped commitment not to make AI weapons or surveillance tools”. The letter gives management 10 working days to voluntarily recognise the unions, or organisers would take formal legal proceedings.”
Google staff worry how the technology will be used given the deal could reportedly open the door to autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of Americans,” the CWU said.Here’s the letter as it appears on United Tech & Allied Workers websiteWe demand that Google takes immediate action to protect the integrity of its AI technologies and commits to a future where the company prioritizes human rights over militarization and surveillance.
Google has long been a leader in technological innovation, but it is now crucial that the company aligns its work with ethical principles that protect humanity and the global community. We call on Google to uphold and strengthen its AI Principles to ensure that its technology is not used for harm or to facilitate violence.We recognise our company’s complicity in the Gaza genocide and increasing involvement in unethical contracts.
We therefore fully support our UCL colleagues’ campaign to boycott and divest from GDM.Our Demands1) Strengthen Google’s AI PrinciplesWe call on Google to update its AI Principles to include a clear commitment that Google will not pursue or develop weapons or technologies whose primary purpose is to cause harm or injury to people, or to gather or use information for surveillance that violates internationally accepted human rights standards.Proposed New AI Principle: “We will not pursue weapons, technologies or contracts whose principal purpose, implementation or impact causes harm or directly facilitates injury to people, or gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms.”