Google DeepMind Has Made the Dream of Some Employees a Reality: Getting Paid Without Working

Large technology companies are engaged in an AI arms race. As in any war, soldiers are a strategic element for each side. That’s why Google DeepMind has decided to pay some employees a full year’s salary without requiring them to go to work. The sole purpose is to prevent them from being hired by the competition.

Google pays not to work. Despite major tech companies’ policies that prioritize employee performance, Google has decided to pay some staff members for doing nothing. This tactic resembles Meta’s approach during the pandemic, when some employees reported having no tasks and suspected they were hired only to keep them from working for competitors.

According to Business Insider, DeepMind, Google’s AI division, has signed non-compete agreements in the UK that prevent certain strategic employees from working for rival companies or launching their own ventures for one year. During that period, professionals continue to collect their full salary but aren’t required to work and cannot seek employment elsewhere.

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One year lost. These non-compete clauses aim to prevent the knowledge and skills acquired at a company from benefiting its rivals after an employee leaves. However, for employees, this period often becomes a professional dead zone that doesn’t exist in most other industries.

While collecting a salary without working may seem ideal, many affected workers say these arrangements hurt their careers. In an industry like AI, which evolves rapidly, a year off the job means missing crucial opportunities to learn and grow.

The talent here and now. A former Google employee told Business Insider that startups developing AI models won’t wait six months to a year to hire talent. Employees under non-compete clauses often find themselves stuck in a professional limbo, losing relevance in a fast-moving field.

On X, Microsoft AI vice president Nando de Freitas confirmed that he receives weekly messages from employees desperate to escape these contracts. “Don’t sign these contracts. No American corporation should have that much power, especially in Europe. It's an abuse of power, which does not justify any end,” he wrote. De Freitas urged workers not to accept these terms and blamed DeepMind executives for enforcing them.

Laws are made to be broken. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission banned most non-compete agreements because of their negative effect on workers. However, this regulation doesn’t apply in the UK, where DeepMind operates.

California labor regulators relaxed their stance on non-competes in 2024, allowing agreements signed by foreign companies. This loophole lets London-based Google DeepMind enforce these clauses without legal barriers—even in Silicon Valley.

Image | Vitaly Gariev (Unsplash)

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