DeepMind's Nando de Freitas Backs Open Letter to Ban Year-Long AI Non-Competes in UK
NandoDF · x · 2026-09-29
Nando de Freitas (VP at Google DeepMind) endorsed the UK "Free to Start and Scale" open letter, calling one-year non-competes and garden leave in AI "the dumbest affront on British science and engineering since Isaac Newton."
Key points: outdated contract terms—lengthy notice periods, non-competes, garden leave—are trapping British tech workers and pushing startups to California, where workers can switch jobs overnight. Talent competition is a collective action problem no startup can solve unilaterally while incumbents use contractual restrictions. The letter urges the UK government to ban lengthy post-termination restrictions and curb extended notice periods, warning that banning non-competes alone would just shift companies to other restrictive clauses. It is open to founders, executives, and investors.
Related event: UK AI Firms Urge Government to Ban One-Year Non-Competes(2 posts)→
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