内容来源：https://www.wired.com/story/google-deepmind-unionization-talks-are-off-to-a-rocky-start/

内容总结：

谷歌DeepMind伦敦员工工会谈判破裂 员工指控公司“拖延战术”

据《连线》杂志披露，谷歌旗下人工智能公司DeepMind与其伦敦员工之间关于工会承认问题的谈判本周陷入僵局。此前进行的初步会谈令工会代表深感“白费力气”。

今年5月，DeepMind员工正式要求谷歌承认英国通信与工人工会（CWU）和联合工会（Unite the Union）作为其联合代表。谷歌虽拒绝了这一请求，但同意在第三方机构调解下参与谈判。然而，周三举行的首次会议令推动工会化的员工大失所望——公司高层管理者并未出席。

“高层缺席初步谈判，这明显表明公司缺乏诚意，纯粹是在浪费时间。”出席会议的CWU官员约翰·查德菲尔德直言，“谈判在初期就陷入停滞。”

谷歌DeepMind则否认谈判停滞。发言人阿尔·韦尼表示：“第一步是明确工会希望代表哪些员工，双方已就后续步骤达成一致。公司派出了合适的代表参加首次会议。”

会议期间，一名DeepMind员工代表支持工会化的同事朗读了事先准备好的声明。据多位知情人士透露，该员工在朗读过程中两次被公司人力资源代表打断。声明中写道：“谷歌DeepMind没有与员工就我们的关切进行有意义的对话，而是将员工视为一个可以推给HR处理的麻烦。”

声明进一步指控谷歌试图压制员工间的公开对话，通过关闭或重组内部聊天渠道、阻止员工回应公司范围内关于工会化的沟通来打压异见。据称，试图绕开限制的员工遭到HR“训斥”。参与起草声明的一名匿名员工称：“这显然是一种恐吓手段，是典型的工会打压策略。”

谷歌DeepMind发言人韦尼回应称：“我们将继续以建设性态度参与这一进程，并与员工保持开放对话。对于此话题之外的内容，我们始终为员工提供多种渠道讨论观点。”

此次工会推动行动始于2025年2月，当时谷歌母公司Alphabet从其伦理准则中删除了“不将AI用于武器开发及监控”的承诺。一名匿名DeepMind员工表示：“这些原则正是我加入DeepMind的重要原因，而现在它们被彻底抛弃了。”

AI行业员工普遍对自身研发模型的军事化应用表示担忧。2月底，DeepMind和OpenAI员工曾联署公开信支持Anthropic，当时美国国防部试图将该实验室列为供应链风险，因其拒绝将技术用于自主武器及大规模监控。4月，《纽约时报》报道谷歌与五角大楼达成协议，允许其AI用于“任何合法政府目的”。美国国防部随后确认，已与包括谷歌、SpaceX、OpenAI、微软在内的七家顶级AI公司达成协议，在机密网络上使用其模型。

谷歌此前为其政府合作辩护，强调“AI不应在缺乏适当人类监督的情况下用于国内大规模监控或自主武器”。2021年，谷歌美国员工已成立Alphabet工会，虽未被公司认可进行集体谈判，但曾代表合同工成功达成协议。

CWU代表查德菲尔德警告，若伦敦谈判无进展，员工将提请仲裁委员会强制谷歌承认工会。“我们希望谷歌能真正坐到谈判桌前，双方都需要做出让步，但目前谷歌没有丝毫让步的意愿。”

中文翻译：

《连线》杂志获悉，谷歌DeepMind与其伦敦员工之间关于成立工会可能性的谈判本周陷入僵局，此前初步会谈让工会代表感觉白费了时间。
今年5月，DeepMind员工请求谷歌承认通信工人工会（Communication Workers Union）和联合工会（Unite the Union）为共同代表。公司随后拒绝了这一请求，但同意参与由第三方机构仲裁的谈判。
周三举行的首次会议有工会官员、参与推动工会成立的DeepMind员工、第三方仲裁员以及DeepMind人力资源代表出席。推动工会成立的一方因DeepMind高层领导缺席而感到沮丧。
“高层管理人员未能在初期阶段出席认可谈判，这是一个公司缺乏诚意的明显信号。这纯粹是浪费时间的行为，”参会的通信工人工会官员约翰·查德菲尔德声称，“谈判在早期阶段就已陷入停滞。”
DeepMind否认谈判陷入停滞。谷歌DeepMind发言人阿尔·韦尔尼表示：“该流程的第一步是界定工会希望代表哪些员工，各方已就此达成下一步共识。适当的代表出席了这次初步会议。”
会议期间，一名DeepMind员工代表支持工会成立的同事们宣读了一封事先准备好的信函，该信函由《连线》杂志查阅。信中写道：“谷歌DeepMind员工没有被视为可以就我们关切的问题进行有意义的对话，而是被当作一个需要交给人力资源部门处理的问题。”据多位知情人士透露，宣读声明的员工在过程中两次被DeepMind人力资源代表打断。
信函进一步指控谷歌试图通过关闭或重新配置内部聊天渠道，禁止员工回应公司范围内关于工会化倡议的通信，来压制DeepMind员工之间的公开对话并打击异见。信函称，试图绕过这些限制的员工遭到了人力资源部门的“训斥”。
“目的是恐吓，”一名参与起草信函、因未获授权向媒体发言而要求匿名的DeepMind员工表示，“这些都是老套的打击工会手段。”
“我们将继续以建设性态度参与……流程，并与员工保持公开对话，”韦尔尼表示，“在此之外的话题上，我们继续为员工提供多种其他渠道和机会来讨论他们的观点。”
据《连线》杂志此前报道，DeepMind推动工会化的努力始于2025年2月，当时谷歌母公司Alphabet从其伦理准则中删除了关于不将人工智能用于武器开发和监控等用途的承诺。
“这些准则曾是我加入DeepMind的重要原因之一，”另一名因同样原因要求匿名的DeepMind员工表示，“我们基本上把它们全抛弃了。”
人工智能行业的员工对他们开发的模型被用于军事化目的表示担忧。今年2月底，在美国国防部试图将Anthropic实验室列为供应链风险（因其拒绝允许其技术用于自主武器和大规模监控）后，DeepMind和OpenAI的员工签署了一封公开信支持Anthropic。
今年4月，《纽约时报》报道称，谷歌已达成一项协议，允许五角大楼将其人工智能用于“任何合法的政府目的”。据报道，约600名美国谷歌员工签署了一封信，抗议该协议的宽松条款。美国国防部随后证实，它已与包括谷歌、SpaceX、OpenAI和微软在内的七家领先人工智能公司达成协议，在机密网络上使用它们的模型。
谷歌此前为其与政府组织的合作进行了辩护。“我们很自豪能成为由领先人工智能实验室、技术和云公司组成的广泛联盟的一部分，提供人工智能服务和基础设施以支持国家安全，”谷歌发言人詹·克里德今年4月告诉《纽约时报》，“我们仍然坚持私营和公共部门的共识，即人工智能不应在没有适当人类监督的情况下用于国内大规模监控或自主武器。”
2021年，美国谷歌员工成立了Alphabet工会。该工会未被Alphabet认可进行集体谈判，但此前曾成功代表谷歌承包商谈判达成协议。
通信工人工会代表查德菲尔德表示，如果伦敦的谈判没有进展，员工将要求仲裁委员会强制谷歌承认工会。
“我们希望谷歌能真正坐到谈判桌前，我们可以友好地达成一些协议，”查德菲尔德声称，“但双方都需要带着让步来谈判。而谷歌目前完全没有做出任何让步。”

英文来源：

Negotiations between Google DeepMind and its London-based employees over the possibility of unionization stumbled this week, after initial talks left union representatives feeling they had wasted their time, WIRED has learned.
In May, DeepMind employees asked Google to recognize the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union as joint representatives. The company later denied that request, but agreed to participate in negotiations arbitrated by a third-party body.
An initial meeting on Wednesday was attended by union officers, DeepMind employees involved in the unionization push, the third-party arbitrator, and DeepMind HR representatives. Those advocating for unionization were left frustrated by the absence of DeepMind leadership figures.
“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,” claims John Chadfield, a CWU officer, who attended the meeting. “Negotiations have stalled at an early stage.”
DeepMind denies that negotiations have stalled. “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,” says Al Verney, a Google DeepMind spokesperson. “The appropriate representatives attended this initial meeting.”
During the meeting, a DeepMind employee read out a prepared letter on behalf of colleagues that support unionization, reviewed by WIRED. “Instead of having meaningful dialogue with its employees about our concerns, Google DeepMind workers have been treated as a problem handed off to HR,” the letter states. The employee reading the statement was interrupted on two occasions by DeepMind HR representatives, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting.
The letter goes on to allege that Google has attempted to quash open dialogue between DeepMind employees and crack down on dissent, by shutting down or reconfiguring internal chat venues, and preventing staff from responding to company-wide communications about the unionization bid. Employees that sought to dance around restrictions were “reprimanded” by HR, the letter alleges.
“The intention was to intimidate,” claims a DeepMind employee involved in drafting the letter, who asked to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak to the media. “These are well-established union-busting techniques.”
"We’ll continue to engage constructively in the…process and have open dialogue with employees,” says Verney. “For topics outside of this, we continue to offer employees a variety of other channels and opportunities to discuss their views.”
The push to unionize at DeepMind 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, WIRED previously reported.
“Those principles were a big part of why I joined DeepMind,” says a second DeepMind employee, who asked to remain anonymous for the same reason. “We basically just got rid of them all.”
Employees across the AI industry have raised concerns about the militarization of the models they are developing. 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 technology to be used in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.
In April, The New York Times reported that Google had entered into a deal allowing the Pentagon to use its AI for “any lawful government purpose.” Roughly 600 US-based Google employees reportedly signed a letter protesting the permissive terms of the deal. The US Department of Defense later confirmed that it had reached deals with seven leading AI companies—including Google, SpaceX, OpenAI, and Microsoft—to use their models on classified networks.
Google 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 in April. “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.”
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.
If negotiations in London do not progress, says Chadfield, the CWU representative, employees will ask an arbitration committee to force Google to recognize the unions.
“We’re hoping that Google genuinely comes to the table and we can agree something amicably,” claims Chadfield. “[But] both sides have to come to the table with some concessions. Google is coming with no concessions whatsoever.”