New Delhi, May 6 -- Workers at Google DeepMind's UK office have launched a landmark bid to unionise, citing deep concerns over the company's expanding military contracts and what they describe as a retreat from ethical principles the company publicly championed for two decades.

The move, backed by an overwhelming majority of union members already affiliated with the Communication Workers Union, places Google at the centre of a growing confrontation between Silicon Valley's AI ambitions and the conscience of the workforce building them.

The immediate catalyst was a deal Google struck with the US Department of Defense, agreeing to allow its Gemini AI models to be used inside classified military networks for "any lawful purpose."

Critics,...