The UK staff of Google DeepMind voted to unionize amid concerns of the company’s deal with the US Department of Defense.
The Pentagon reached agreements with seven AI companies, including Google, for “lawful use” of their tech in the military; Anthropic, which feuded with the Pentagon over use of its tools, was not among them.
But the deal was unpopular with Google’s employees, hundreds of whom signed an open letter condemning it.
One told WIRED that a union would allow staff to demand that Google allow them a say in its products’ uses.
UK law, however, limits union influence to things like working conditions, but the union could still be a PR headache and potentially incentivize Google to slow its British investment.