Petition to Rescind the UCL Honorary Fellowship Awarded to Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind

 

In 2016, UCL awarded an Honorary Fellowship to Demis Hassabis, the co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind. UCL Honorary Fellowships are supposed to be awarded to individuals who reflect “the values and ethos of UCL.” 

Yet, over the past few years, Google DeepMind and its parent companies, Google and Alphabet, have become deeply complicit in aiding and abetting Israeli genocide, ethnic cleansing, occupation and apartheid in Palestine. Since 2021, Google has held contracts with the Israeli government that make its cloud computing infrastructure as well as its artificial intelligence technology – developed by Google DeepMind – available for use by the Israeli Ministry of Defense and Israeli Defense Forces. This technology has directly aided combat operations and is described by the Israeli military as “a weapon in every sense of the word.”

In June 2025, the United Nations called out Alphabet, the parent company of Google DeepMind, for its complicity in Israeli occupation, apartheid and genocide, noting that the company was “central to the Israeli surveillance apparatus and the ongoing Gaza destruction,” and calling on all civil society organisations to cut ties with the company and press for boycotts, divestment and full accountability. In April 2025, the Financial Times reported that Google DeepMind’s own workers were seeking to unionise in order to push their employer to end its involvement with military and surveillance work with Israel and elsewhere.

Despite all of this, not only has Demis Hassabis made no public statement or action to bring the corporate complicity of Google DeepMind, Google and Alphabet to an end; Hassabis has openly supported sharing Google DeepMind AI technology with the Israeli Defense Forces during their genocidal war on Gaza.

Such activities and behaviours do not represent the values and ethos of our university.

As UCL staff, students and alumni, we call on Provost Michael Spence and the UCL Council to immediately rescind the UCL Honorary Fellowship awarded to Demis Hassabis, that now brings shame on our university.

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For any information about the petition contact us at 📧contact[at]DMpetitionUCL.info

123 UCL Signatories (updated at the end of each day)

  1. Mr Adnan Ali, Operations Manager (People), VP-RIGE, VP-RIGE
  2. Professor Adriana Allen, Professor of Development Planning and Urban Sustainability, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, The Bartlett
  3. Dr Alban Hasson, Project Coordinator, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
  4. Ms Alexandria Z.W. Chong, PhD Researcher, Development Planning Unit, The Bartlett
  5. Dr Amal Rammah, Senior Research Fellow, ICH, Faculty of Population Health Sciences
  6. Miss Ameera Khalid, Student, Biochemistry, Life sciences
  7. Ms Amelia McInnes-Dean, Research Assistant, IGH, FPHS
  8. Dr Amy Horton, Associate professor of economic geography, Geography, SHS
  9. Mr Anas Uddin, Admin, Finance, Prof serviced
  10. Dr Andrew Harris, Associate Professor in Geography and Urban Studies, Geography, SHS Faculty
  11. Professor Ann Phoenix, Professor of Psychosocial Studies, Social Research Institute, IOE
  12. Dr Asma Zubairi, Lecturer in International Education, EPS, Institute of Education
  13. Dr. Avishikta Chakraborty, Research fellow, GEE, Biosciences
  14. Ms Áine McAllister, Associate Professor, CCM, IoE
  15. Professor Barbara Lipietz, Professor of Urban Development Planning, Development Planning Unit (DPU), Bartlett
  16. Dr Brenda Herbert, Research fellow, Social Research Institute, IOE
  17. Mr Caleb Pinnell, MA Fine Art, The Slade School of Fine Art, Slade
  18. Mx Cami Warren, Administrator, Space & Climate Physics, MAPS
  19. Miss Carmela Morgillo, PhD Candidate, SSEES, Arts & Humanities
  20. Dr Carolina Alves, Associate Professor, IIPP, Bartlett
  21. Miss Cassandra Smythe, Student, Social Sciences, SRI
  22. Miss Cecily Loveys Jervoise, MA Student, Slade, Slade
  23. Dr Charmian Dawson, Lecturer, Division of Biosciences, Life Sciences
  24. Mr Chris Wallace, Associate Lecturer, CLIE, IoE
  25. Mr Daniel Mikolajczyk, Senior Research Infrastructure Developer, ARC, ARC
  26. Dr David Pérez-Suárez, Research Software Engineer, ARC, PS
  27. Ms Eleanor Saunby, Student, Slade School of Art, Arts and Humanities
  28. Prof Eleanore Hargreaves, Professor of Learning and Pedagogy, IoE, Institute of Education
  29. Mx Eleni Allan Padilla, Student, Institute of Archaeology, Eps
  30. Dr Emma Brooks, Lecturer in Language Education and Intercultural Communication, Culture, Communication and Media, Institute of Education
  31. Mr Erkan Gursel, PGTA, Geography, SHS
  32. Dr Estella Carpi, Associate Professor, Disaster and Risk Reduction, Maps
  33. Ms Esther Kaner, PhD Candidate, Anthropology, SHS
  34. Dr Eve Dickson, Senior Research Fellow, Social Research Institute, IOE
  35. Dr Fabien Cante, Lecturer in Urban & Development Geography, Gepgraphy, SHS
  36. Farhana Ali, MA Student, Sociology of Childhood
  37. Miss Fatima Mohsinah, Student, Education, Practice and Society, Institute of Education
  38. Ms Fawzia Mahmood, Lecturer, Culture, Communication and Media, IOE
  39. Dr Fenna Hoefsloot, Research Fellow, Geography
  40. Dr Feryal Awan, Lecturer, CCM, IOE
  41. Ms Flora Hunt, PG Student, Slade school of fine art, Slade School of Fine Art
  42. Professor Gargi Bhattacharyya, Director of Sarah Parker Remond Centre, IAS, SHS
  43. Ms Georgia Tobin, Adviser, Students' Union, Students' Union
  44. Dr Giuliana Ferri, Associate Professor, CCM, IOE
  45. Ms Grace Samuel, Student, Political Science, Social and Historical Sciences
  46. Ms Hania Tayara, Partnerships Manager, LCCOS, Professional Services
  47. Dr Hannah Schling, Lecturer in Economic Geography, Geography, SHS
  48. Dr. Hans Demeyer, Associate Professor of Dutch & Comparative Literature, SELCS-CMII, Arts & Humanities
  49. Ms Hayley Gewer, Lecturer (Teaching), Centre for Languages and International Education, Institute of Education
  50. Dr Hazel Croft, Education Coordinator (PGR), Centre for Doctoral Education, IOE
  51. Professor Helen Chatterjee, Professor of Human & Ecological Health, Biosciences/Arts & Sciences, Life Sciences/Arts & Humanities
  52. Dr Humma Andleeb, Research Fellow, CEHP, Brain Sciences
  53. Miss Inasse Soyinka, Student, School of Pharmacy, Life Sciences
  54. Dr Isma Zulfiqar, Research Fellow, Experimental Psychology, Na
  55. Miss Isobel Miles, Student, Education, Practice and Society, Institute of Education
  56. Mr Jack Strange, Lecturer in Fine Art, Slade School of Fine Art, Arts and Humanities
  57. Dr James Kneale, Professor, Geography, SHS
  58. Dr Jamie Danemayer, Research fellow, Computer Science, Engineering
  59. Ms Jessica Brook, Associate Lecturer, CLIE, IOE
  60. Ms Jessica Womack, Archivist, LCCOS, Office of the UCL Vice-Provost (Faculties)
  61. Miss Jessie Sullivan, PhD student, research assistant, EPS, IOE
  62. Mx Jo Ackerley, Student, Slade School of Fine Art, N.A.
  63. Dr Joe Penny, Associate Professor, UCL Urban Laboratory, Bartlett
  64. Professor John Gray, Professor of Applied Linguistics and Education, Culture, Communication and Media, IOE
  65. Professor John O'Regan, Professor of Critical Applied Linguistics, Culture Communication and Media, UCL Institute of Education
  66. Professor John Yandell, Professor of English in Education, CCM, IOE
  67. Dr Jonathan Galton, Lecturer in Sociology, Social Research Institute, IOE
  68. Dr Jonny Jones, Associate Lecturer, Geography, SHS
  69. Professor Emerita Julia Brannen, Emerita, SRI, SRI
  70. Professor Kamna Patel, Professor, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, The Bartlett
  71. Professor Katrina Palmer, Professor of Fine Art, Slade School of Art, Humanities
  72. Dr Laila A Kadiwal, Associate Professor, EPS, IOE
  73. Dr Larne Abse Gogarty, Associate Professor, Slade School of Fine Art, Arts and Humanities
  74. Professor Lee Grieveson, Professor of Media History, Centre for Multidisciplinary and Intercultural Inquiry, FAH
  75. Dr Lee Rensimer, Lecturer in Education Studies, Education, Practice and Society, UCL Institute of Education
  76. Miss Leena Ahmed, Student, Arts and Sciences, Arts and Humanities
  77. Ms Lucy Parker, Lecturer, Public Anthropology, Anthropology
  78. Dr Mariana Reyes, Research Associate, Geography, SHS
  79. Dr Mark Newman, Reader, SRI, IOE
  80. Dr Matteo Tiratelli, Associate Professor, Social Research Institute, IOE
  81. Mx Maxime Chautemps, Student, Division of Biosciences, Life Sciences
  82. Mx Mia McCurdy Pobloth, Student, EISPS
  83. Dr Michael Hrebeniak, Assoc. Prof. in Film Poetics, Culture, Communication & Media, IoE
  84. Professor Miguel Pérez-Milans, Professor of Language, Discourse and Communication, Culture, Communication and Media, UCL Institute of Education
  85. Dr Muzna Al-Masri, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Lab, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Enviornment
  86. Miss Natasha Polomski, Alumni, Arts and Sciences, Arts and Humanities
  87. Miss Neha Khawaja, Research Technician, Division of Infection and Immunity
  88. Miss Nellie Szeplaki, 4th Year Student, Computer Science, Engineering
  89. Professor Nishat Naz Awan, Professor of Architecture & Visual Culture, Urban Lab, Bartlett
  90. Ms Paola Camasso, PhD candidate in Architectural History and Theory, The Bartlett, School of Architecture
  91. Dr Patrick Roddy, Senior Research Software Engineer, ARC, ARC
  92. Dr Paul Breen, Senior Digital Learning Developer, ACC, CLIE
  93. Mr Praveen Ganesan, Student, Political Science, Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences
  94. Professor Rachel Rosen, Professor of Sociology, Social Research Institute, UCL Institute of Education
  95. Dr Rana Abu-Zhaya, Lecturer in Speech, Hearing, and Phonetic Sciences, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences
  96. Mx Raven Maxwell-Kavanagh, Admissions Officer, SRA, Professional Services
  97. Ms Reem Ben Giaber, PhD candidate, Department of Learning and Leadership, IOE
  98. Mr Rehman, Associate Staff, Security Operations, UCL FBE
  99. Mx Ricardo Guimarães, PhD Student and PGTA, Slade School of Fine Art, Arts and Humanities
  100. Ms Rosalind, Student, Arts and Humanities, Slade
  101. Ms Rosie Turner Mullan, Student, Slade, Slade
  102. Dr Sadhvi Dar, Associate Professor, Arts and Sciences, Arts and Humanities
  103. Research Fellow Samar Maqusi, Research fellow, Cege pearl, Engineering
  104. Dr Sameera Ebrahim, Contracts Manager, Contract Services, RIS
  105. Dr Samrah, Professional Services Manager, Department for Leadership & Learning, IOE
  106. Dr Sara Bragg, Associate Professor, IoE, IoE
  107. Ms Satinder Kundhi, Education Co-ordinator, Built Environment, PS
  108. Ms Shana Sullivan, Technician, Maths & Physical Sciences, Physics & Astronomy
  109. Dr Shereen Nizari, Research Fellow, Department of Imaging, Faculty of Medical Sciences
  110. Ms. Simin Sanil, Postgraduate student, Political science, Faculty of social and historical sciences
  111. Dr Stuart Tannock, Associate Professor in Sociology of Education, EPS, UCL Institute of Education
  112. Mr Taufiq Farouk, Student, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Engineering
  113. Dr Tom Western, Lecturer in Social and Cultural Geography, Geography, UCL Faculty
  114. Mr Tommy Garwood, Sports Development Coordinator, Students' Union UCL, Students' Union UCL
  115. Mr Torr Fischman, PhD student, Physics, Physics
  116. Miss Vedika Jhawar, Student, GEE, Life Sciences
  117. Ms Warda Sharif, Administrator, Psychology and Language Sciences, Brain Sciences
  118. Mr Waseem Ahmed, PhD candidate and PGTA, History/Institute of Americas, na
  119. Dr William A. Booth, Lecturer in Latin American History, Institute of the Americas, SHS
  120. Dr Xine Yao, Associate Professor, English, Arts & Humanities
  121. Mrs Yasmine Say, Student, Institute for women’s health
  122. Mr Yingjie Ma, Student, Chemistry, Chemistry
  123. Ms Bella Dowsett, first-year student, anthropology, anthropology