Google DeepMind Staffers Ask Leaders to Keep Them ‘Physically Safe’ From ICE

Employees at Google DeepMind have asked the company’s leadership for plans and policies to keep them “physically safe” from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while on the company’s premises, according to screenshots of internal messages obtained by WIRED.

On Monday morning, two days after federal agents shot and killed Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti, a Google DeepMind employee sent the following message in an internal message board for the company’s roughly 3,000-person AI unit:

“US focused question: What is GDM doing to keep us physically safe from ICE? The events of the past week have shown that immigration status, citizenship, or even the law is not a deterrent against detention, violence, or even death from federal operatives.”

It continues: “What kinds of plans and policies are in place to ensure our safety at the office? Coming to and from work? As we have seen, government agency tactics can change and escalate quite rapidly. With offices in many metro areas across the US, are we prepared?”

The message received more than 20 “plus emoji” reactions from Google DeepMind staffers.

By Monday evening, no senior leaders from Google had responded to the message. In fact, Google’s top brass—including CEO Sundar Pichai and DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis—have remained silent on Pretti’s killing even inside the company, sources say.

The messages show some of the latest divisions forming between AI firms and their employees over the Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration agents across America. While Silicon Valley CEOs have largely bent the knee to Trump, their employees have started raising concerns internally and externally about the federal government’s actions.

Google DeepMind’s chief scientist, Jeff Dean, has been one of the industry’s most outspoken critics of ICE. In a post on X Sunday, he responded to a video of Pretti’s shooting saying, “This is absolutely shameful.”

Employees at the defense tech firm Palantir have questioned the company’s decision to work with ICE. WIRED previously reported that one Palantir employee wrote in Slack, “In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this.”

Employees of AI labs that partner with Palantir—including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta—have also discussed whether to push leaders to cut ties with the defense tech firm, The New York Times reported.

Concerns about ICE agents entering Google’s offices are not unfounded. In a message obtained by WIRED, a separate Google DeepMind staffer raised concerns about a federal agent’s alleged attempt to enter the company’s Cambridge, Massachusetts, office in the fall.

Google’s head of security and risk operations responded to this message to clarify what had happened. They noted that an “officer arrived at reception without notice” and that the agent was “not granted entry because they did not have a warrant and promptly left.”

Google declined to comment.

Google is one of many Silicon Valley firms that relies on thousands of highly skilled foreign workers, many of whom are in the United States on visas. In light of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, these firms have had to offer increased protections for many of their workers. Late last year, Google and Apple advised employees on visas not to leave the country after the White House toughened its vetting of visa applicants.

At that time, Silicon Valley leaders were not shy about defending visa programs, which have allowed the United States to bring in top talent from around the globe.

But AI executives have appeared hesitant to speak out about the federal government’s latest immigration actions. Beyond Google, top executives from Silicon Valley firms—including OpenAI, Meta, xAI, Apple, and Amazon—have yet to publicly comment on ICE activities. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed the Minnesota incident in an internal message to the company, according to DealBook, telling employees that “what’s happening with ICE is going too far.”