GOOGLE DeepMind workers have launched a joint union recognition bid amid concerns that the tech giant’s AI tools are enabling Israel’s Gaza genocide.

London-based staff wrote to managers today asking that they recognise the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite as the official representatives of the workforce.

Their demands include an end to use of Google AI by Israel and the US military and “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,” said the CWU.

A DeepMind employee said: “We don’t want our AI models complicit in violations of international law, but they already are aiding Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. 

“Even if our work is only used for administrative purposes, as leadership has repeatedly told us, it is still helping make genocide cheaper, faster and more efficient. That must end immediately, as must harm to Iranians and human lives anywhere.”

The union recognition bid covers at least 1,000 staff linked to the London office.

CWU national officer for technology workers John Chadfield said: “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.

“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.”

Google was contacted for comment.