A group of clay staff in a British office standing together presenting a long paper to a figure at a tall desk

A former employee walking out the door with a heavy chain and padlock around their mouth area trailing behind them

An empty chair at a table beside a closed door, the paper lying unanswered

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Afternoon Brief · November 3rd 2026

DeepMind staff in Britain ask Google to drop a lifetime ban on criticizing the company

UK-based Google DeepMind employees are urging leaders to remove non-disparagement clauses that bar public warnings about AI risks even after they leave Google, the Washington Post reports, citing sources. The ask matches the 2024 "Right to Warn" letter from current and former OpenAI and DeepMind staff, which urged labs not to bind people from airing risk concerns. This account rests on a summary of the Post's report, with no response from Google in it. SourcesB B

Sources

BGoogle DeepMind staff protest lifetime ban on criticizing company (Washington Post, refused the fetcher; from Techmeme's summary)washingtonpost.com
BOpenAI, Google DeepMind employees sign open letter (SCMP)scmp.com

This story ran in the Afternoon Brief of November 3rd 2026.

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