LONDON — Negotiations between Google DeepMind and its London-based employees regarding unionization began this week. This follows a request in May by DeepMind employees for Google to recognize the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite the Union as joint representatives.

Google denied the request for joint union representation but agreed to participate in negotiations arbitrated by a third-party body. An initial meeting on Wednesday included union officers, DeepMind employees involved in the unionization push, a third-party arbitrator, and DeepMind HR representatives. Senior management from DeepMind did not attend.

CWU officer John Chadfield stated, "Recognition talks not being attended by senior management at the opening stage is a leading indicator that a company isn't engaging in good faith. It's just a time-wasting exercise." Chadfield added, "Negotiations have stalled at an early stage." Google DeepMind denies that negotiations have stalled. Spokesperson Al Verney said, "The first step in the process is to define who the unions want to represent and the parties agreed on next steps to do this." Verney also stated, "The appropriate representatives attended this initial meeting."

During the meeting, a DeepMind employee read a prepared letter on behalf of colleagues supporting unionization. DeepMind HR representatives interrupted the employee reading the statement on two occasions. The letter alleges that Google has tried to stop open dialogue by shutting down or reconfiguring internal chat venues and prevented staff from responding to company-wide communications about the unionization effort. The letter further alleges that employees who tried to work around these restrictions were reprimanded by HR. A DeepMind employee said of the alleged actions, "The intention was to intimidate," and described them as "well-established union-busting techniques." Verney responded, "We'll continue to engage constructively in the process and have open dialogue with employees." He added, "For topics outside of this, we continue to offer employees a variety of other channels and opportunities to discuss their views."

Chadfield expressed hope for genuine engagement, stating, "We're hoping that Google genuinely comes to the table and we can agree something amicably." He added, "[But] both sides have to come to the table with some concessions. Google is coming with no concessions whatsoever." If negotiations in London do not progress, employees will ask an arbitration committee to compel Google to recognize the unions.

Why It Matters

The current negotiations mark a formal step in a broader effort by Google DeepMind employees in London to unionize for the first time. This development follows previous unionization efforts within Google's parent company, Alphabet, in the United States. In 2021, US-based Google employees formed the Alphabet Workers Union, which is not recognized by Alphabet for collective bargaining but has successfully negotiated agreements for Google contractors.

The push for unionization at DeepMind started in February 2025. This period coincides with changes in Google's policies regarding artificial intelligence ethics. In February 2025, Alphabet removed a pledge not to use AI for purposes such as weapons development and surveillance from its ethics guidelines. One DeepMind employee noted that those principles were a major factor in their decision to join Google DeepMind, stating, "Those principles were a big part of why I joined DeepMind." Another DeepMind employee said, "We basically just got rid of them all." In April, Google entered into an agreement to allow the Pentagon to utilize its AI for lawful government purposes. Approximately 600 US-based Google employees signed a letter protesting the terms of this deal. The US Department of Defense confirmed similar deals with other leading AI companies, including SpaceX, OpenAI, and Microsoft, to use their models on classified networks. Google spokeswoman Jenn Crider stated, "We are proud to be part of a broad consortium of leading AI labs and technology and cloud companies providing AI services and infrastructure in support of national security." Crider added, "We remain committed to the private and public sector consensus that AI should not be used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry without appropriate human oversight."