Tech companies are launching smarter AI tools rapidly. Recently, Google has launched its most "advanced" model to date: Gemini 2.5 Pro. The AI system is supposedly better at coding, solving math problems, and understanding visuals.

As this AI race gets more intense, so does the battle to hire the best talent in the field.

Google is reportedly paying some employees not to work. According to a Business Insider report, Google is asking some of its UK employees to sign non-compete contracts. These agreements prevent them from working for competing firms. Once they have signed, the staff are placed on "garden leave"—meaning they continue to be paid but are not permitted to work, either for Google or for anyone else.

The report states that this leave can extend to 12 months. A few Google DeepMind employees were put on such long leaves after they agreed to it. Although they're being paid, they're in a state of work limbo.

This story went public when Nando de Freitas, then Vice President of Microsoft AI and a former DeepMind director, posted about it on X (formerly Twitter). He said a number of employees got in touch with him about how frustrating this is

“Every week one of you reaches out to me in despair to ask me how to escape your notice periods and noncompetes. Also asking me for a job because your manager has explained this is the way to get promoted, but I digress,” Freitas wrote on X.

“Above all don’t sign these contracts. No American corporation should have that much power, especially in Europe. It’s abuse of power, which does not justify any end," he added.

The Business Insider article is sourced from interviews with four former employees of Google DeepMind, who wished to remain anonymous. They claimed the contracts are holding them back from progressing in their careers.

 

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