Google DeepMind staff in the UK are seeking to unionise in an effort to challenge the company’s decision to sell its artificial intelligence technologies to defence groups and ties to the Israeli government.
Around 300 London-based employees of the tech giant’s AI arm, which is led by British Nobel laureate Sir Demis Hassabis, have sought to join the Communication Workers Union in recent weeks, according to three people briefed on the move.
The effort creates new strain on DeepMind which is being pushed by its corporate parent to find commercial uses for its powerful AI, with Hassabis suggesting recently that companies in democratic countries should work together to support national security.