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BREAKING: Google DeepMind workers in UK have voted 98% in favour of unionising — demanding an end to AI use by Israel and the US military for perpetrating genocide in Gaza. If successful, they’ll be the first frontier AI lab in the world to unionise.

Scores of Google AI workers have launched an unprecedented unionisation bid to end use of their technology by Israel and the US military.

The UK-based Google DeepMind employees – who aim to become the first frontier artificial intelligence lab worldwide to unionise – sent a letter on Tuesday requesting management recognise the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite the Union as their official representatives.

“This is a really important moment where tech workers at Google's frontier AI lab are connecting with some of the most oppressed people in communities around the world in meaningful ways, based on foundational values of solidarity and trade unionism.” — John Chadfield, CWU National Officer for Tech

“By exercising their rights to collectivise they are in a strong position to demand their employer stop circling the ethical drain of military-industrial contracts, echoing the sentiment of many working people in the UK and elsewhere.” — John Chadfield, CWU National Officer for Tech

Maven, a US government project from which Google withdrew in 2019 after staff uproar, has reportedly been used in targeting in the Iran war.

The unionising DeepMind workers are seeking an end to use of Google AI by Israel and the US military.

Their demands also include restoring a scrapped commitment not to make AI weapons or surveillance tools, the creation of an independent ethics oversight body, and the individual right to refuse to contribute to projects on moral grounds.