UK-based Google DeepMind workers vote to unionize over military AI contracts amid internal backlash over its Pentagon deal

Google’s UK-based Deep Mind workers have launched a bid to form what would be the world’s first union at a frontier AI lab. The move follows a controversial deal Google inked with the Pentagon, sparking a wave of internal backlash over the company’s military contracts. Last week, Google agreed to let the U.S. Department of Defense use its Gemini AI models inside classified military networks for “any lawful purpose,” a deal critics say could open the door to autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of American citizens with few enforceable limits. Google is not the only leading AI lab to sign such a deal—OpenAI, xAI, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon have all agreed to similar contracts. Only Anthropic has refused, resulting in the Pentagon ordering the military and all defense contractors to stop using its products and labeling it a “supply chain risk,” a designation Anthropic is challenging in court. Within Google, the deal has kicked off internal protests, with more than 600 Google employees signing an open letter opposing the deal, and several employees criticizing the agreement in the press and on social media. Now, employees are seeking to force an end to Google AI being used by the U.S. Department of Defense as well as the Israeli military, according to a statement from the Communication Workers Union, which is representing the DeepMind workers. In a vote of CWU members at DeepMind, 98% backed the bid, according to the union. The workers have formally written to management requesting recognition of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite the Union as their representatives. If successful, the bid would secure representation for around 1,000 staff tied to Google DeepMind’s London office. The employees are also requesting the reinstatement of a previous company commitment—originally published following employee uproar over Project Maven in 2018 but quietly removed from Google’s public website in February 2025—not to develop