To secure a competitive advantage in AI, Google is reportedly putting employees on up to one-year garden leave to stop them from joining rivals.
In a bold move to maintain its edge in the intensifying artificial intelligence race, Google appears to be employing unconventional tactics to keep top talent away from competitors.
According to a report by Business Insider, Google is implementing non-compete agreements with UK-based employees and then placing them on extended "garden leave" — essentially paying them full salaries while preventing them from working elsewhere.
After signing these restrictive agreements, numerous employees are allegedly being put on extended leaves where they continue receiving compensation from Google DeepMind but perform no actual work for the duration of their non-compete periods, which can last up to 12 months.
Four former employees speaking anonymously to Business Insider revealed that some Google DeepMind staff in the UK are subject to these contractual restrictions, which effectively bind employees by preventing them from joining competing companies for a specified timeframe.
The situation gained public attention when Nando de Freitas, Microsoft AI's Vice-President and former DeepMind director, highlighted these practices on X (formerly Twitter).
"Every week one of you reaches out to me in despair to ask me how to escape your notice periods and non-competes. 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.
