AI engineer says Google unfairly sacked him after he protested against work for Israel

Exclusive: Employment tribunal claim says worker lost his job after distributing leaflets throughout London office

Google is facing a legal challenge from an AI engineer who claims he was unfairly dismissed after he protested against its work for the Israeli government, in the latest sign of growing concern about the social and ethical impacts of AI.

The engineer distributed flyers around Google DeepMind's London offices, which read Google provides military AI to forces committing genocide" and asking colleagues: Is your paycheck worth this?" He also emailed colleagues about Google's 2025 decision to drop a promise not to pursue weapons that harm people and surveillance violating international norms and urged them to unionise.