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London – A former Google DeepMind engineer of Palestinian heritage has filed an employment tribunal claim in the United Kingdom, alleging unfair dismissal, discrimination on the basis of his beliefs and whistleblower retaliation after he protested Google’s work on military-related artificial intelligence projects. The dispute centres on flyers he distributed inside Google’s London offices that questioned the morality of the company’s involvement in providing AI technology to military forces, describing such work as complicit in human rights violations. The literature also urged colleagues to reflect on the ethical consequences of their work and encouraged them to join the United Tech and Allied Workers union as a way to push for changes in corporate policy. The engineer says that after distributing the flyers he was summoned to a series of meetings with management and later informed that he had resigned from his position in September 2025, a claim he disputes, arguing he was effectively forced out of his job. His tribunal claim alleges that Google’s actions were a direct response to his internal advocacy against contracts that could support weapons development or surveillance operations in conflict zones. Google DeepMind rejects his account and says the allegations do not accurately reflect the circumstances of his departure, maintaining that it does not penalise staff for expressing opinions within internal conduct standards and declining to provide further details, citing confidentiality around personnel matters. The UK employment tribunal will consider evidence from both sides to determine whether his treatment breached employment or equality laws.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.