Google DeepMind Workers Vote to Unionize Over Military AI Deals
Google DeepMind Workers Vote to Unionize Over Military AI Deals
Google DeepMind 员工投票成立工会，旨在抵制军事 AI 合作
Employees at Google DeepMind in London have voted to unionize as part of a bid to block the AI lab from providing its technology to the US and Israeli militaries. 位于伦敦的 Google DeepMind 员工已投票决定成立工会，此举旨在阻止该 AI 实验室向美国和以色列军方提供其技术。
In a letter addressed to Google’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, Debbie Weinstein, the workers asked the company to recognize the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union as joint representatives for DeepMind employees. 在一封致 Google 英国及爱尔兰董事总经理 Debbie Weinstein 的信中，员工们要求公司承认“通信工人工会”（Communication Workers Union）和“联合工会”（Unite the Union）作为 DeepMind 员工的共同代表。
“Fundamentally, the push for unionization is about holding Google to its own ethical standards on AI, how they monetize it, what the products do, and who they work with,” John Chadfield, national officer for technology at the CWU, tells WIRED. “Through the process of unionization, workers are collectively in a much stronger place to put [demands] to an increasingly deaf management.” “从根本上讲，推动工会化是为了让 Google 遵守其自身在 AI 方面的道德标准，包括他们如何将其货币化、产品的功能以及他们的合作伙伴，”CWU 技术部门全国官员 John Chadfield 对《连线》（WIRED）杂志表示。“通过工会化进程，员工们能够以集体的力量，更有力地向日益充耳不闻的管理层提出诉求。”
The push to unionize began in February 2025, when Google’s parent company Alphabet removed a pledge not to use AI for purposes like weapons development and surveillance from its ethics guidelines, according to a DeepMind employee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. 据一位因担心遭到报复而要求匿名的 DeepMind 员工透露，工会化运动始于 2025 年 2 月，当时 Google 母公司 Alphabet 从其道德准则中删除了“不将 AI 用于武器开发和监控等目的”的承诺。
“A lot of people here bought into the Google DeepMind tagline ‘to build AI responsibly to benefit humanity,’” the DeepMind employee told WIRED. “The direction of travel is to further militarization of the AI models we’re building here.” “这里很多人都认同 Google DeepMind 的口号——‘负责任地构建 AI 以造福人类’，”该 DeepMind 员工告诉《连线》。“但目前的发展方向却是让我们在这里构建的 AI 模型进一步军事化。”
Increasingly, that concern is reflected across the industry. In late February, staff at DeepMind and OpenAI signed an open letter in support of Anthropic, after the US Department of Defense sought to designate the lab a supply chain risk over its refusal to allow its AI to be used in autonomous weapons or for mass surveillance of US citizens. 这种担忧在整个行业中日益显现。2 月下旬，在 Anthropic 因拒绝将其 AI 用于自主武器或对美国公民进行大规模监控，而被美国国防部试图列为“供应链风险”后，DeepMind 和 OpenAI 的员工签署了一封公开信以支持 Anthropic。
Last week The New York Times reported that Google had entered into a deal allowing the Pentagon to use its AI for “any lawful government purpose.” (On Friday, the US Department of Defense confirmed that it had reached deals with seven leading AI companies—including Google, SpaceX, OpenAI, and Microsoft—to use their models on classified networks.) Roughly 600 US-based Google employees reportedly signed a letter protesting the deal. “We think the [any-lawful-purpose] clause is vague enough to be effectively meaningless,” the DeepMind employee says. 上周，《纽约时报》报道称，Google 已达成一项协议，允许五角大楼将其 AI 用于“任何合法的政府目的”。（周五，美国国防部证实，已与包括 Google、SpaceX、OpenAI 和微软在内的七家领先 AI 公司达成协议，在机密网络上使用其模型。）据报道，约 600 名美国 Google 员工签署了一封抗议该协议的信件。该 DeepMind 员工表示：“我们认为‘任何合法目的’这一条款过于模糊，实际上毫无意义。”
Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The company has previously defended its deals with government organizations. “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,” Jenn Crider, a Google spokeswoman, told The New York Times last week. “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.” Google 没有立即回应置评请求。该公司此前曾为其与政府机构的交易进行辩护。Google 发言人 Jenn Crider 上周对《纽约时报》表示：“我们很自豪能成为由领先 AI 实验室、技术和云公司组成的广泛联盟的一员，为国家安全提供 AI 服务和基础设施。我们仍然致力于私营和公共部门的共识，即在没有适当人工监督的情况下，AI 不应用于国内大规模监控或自主武器。”
In 2021, Google employees in the US formed the Alphabet Workers Union. The union is not recognized by Alphabet for collective bargaining purposes but has previously succeeded in negotiating agreements on behalf of Google contractors. 2021 年，美国 Google 员工成立了“Alphabet 工会”（Alphabet Workers Union）。该工会未获得 Alphabet 的集体谈判认可，但此前曾成功代表 Google 合同工进行过协议谈判。
The DeepMind employee tells WIRED that if the staff succeeds in unionizing in the UK, they will likely demand that Google pull out of its long-standing contract with the Israeli military and seek greater transparency over how its AI products will be used, with some sort of assurance relating to layoffs made possible by automation. 该 DeepMind 员工告诉《连线》，如果员工在英国成功组建工会，他们可能会要求 Google 退出与以色列军方的长期合同，并寻求在 AI 产品使用方式上提高透明度，同时要求获得有关自动化可能导致的裁员方面的某种保障。
If Google does not engage, the letter states, the employees will ask an arbitration committee to compel the company to recognize the unions. 信中指出，如果 Google 不进行接触，员工将要求仲裁委员会强制公司承认工会。
Since the turn of the year, both Anthropic and OpenAI have announced large-scale expansions of their operations in London. CWU hopes the unionization effort at DeepMind will spur workers at those labs into similar action. 自今年年初以来，Anthropic 和 OpenAI 都宣布了在伦敦的大规模业务扩张计划。CWU 希望 DeepMind 的工会化努力能激励这些实验室的员工采取类似行动。
“These conversations are happening,” claims Chadfield. “The workers at other frontier labs have seen what Google DeepMind workers have done. They’ve come to us asking for help as well.” “这些对话正在发生，”Chadfield 声称。“其他前沿实验室的员工已经看到了 Google DeepMind 员工所做的事情。他们也已经来找我们寻求帮助了。”