A conversation between Google DeepMind and its London-based staff on the possibility of a union stumbled this week, after initial talks left union representatives feeling they had wasted their time, WIRED has learned.
In May, DeepMind employees he asked Google will recognize the Communications Workers Union and the United States Union as collective representatives. The company later rejected the request, but agreed to participate in mediated negotiations with a third-party organization.
The initial meeting on Wednesday was attended by union officials, DeepMind employees involved in the union pressure, a third-party arbitrator, and DeepMind HR representatives. Those advocating for a merger were left confused by the absence of DeepMind leaders.
“Recognition talks not attended by senior management at the opening stage is a strong indicator that the company is not participating in good faith. It is a waste of time,” claims John Chadfield, a CWU official, who attended the meeting. “The talks have stalled at an early stage.”
DeepMind denies that talks have stalled. “The first step in the process is to define who the unions want to represent and the unions agree on the next steps to do that,” says Al Verney, a spokesperson for Google DeepMind. “Appropriate representatives attended this first meeting.”
During the meeting, a DeepMind employee read a letter drafted on behalf of colleagues supporting the union, reviewed by WIRED. “Instead of having a meaningful conversation with its employees about our concerns, Google DeepMind employees have been treated as a problem handed over to HR,” the letter says. An employee reading the statement was interrupted twice by DeepMind HR representatives, according to multiple sources familiar with the meeting.
The letter goes on to allege that Google has tried to stifle open dialogue among DeepMind employees and counter dissent, by shutting down or reorganizing internal chat rooms, and preventing employees from responding to company-wide communications about the union bid. Employees who wanted to play around the barriers were “reprimanded” by HR, the letter claims.
“The intention was to scare,” claims a DeepMind employee involved in drafting the letter, who asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media. “These are well-established tactics to break a union.”
“We will continue to be actively involved in the… process and have an open dialogue with the staff,” says Verney. “For topics outside of this, we continue to provide employees with other ways and opportunities to discuss their views.”
The drive to unite in DeepMind began in February 2025, when Google’s parent company Alphabet. withdrew the promise not using AI for purposes such as weaponization and surveillance from its ethical guidelines, WIRED previously reported.
“Those principles were a big part of why I joined DeepMind,” says a second DeepMind employee, who asked not to be named for the same reason. “We’ve basically eliminated them all.”
