ZeniMax union to govern company adoption of AI

ZeniMax Workers United-CWA has won a tentative agreement which will allow union members to guide the company's use of AI in the workplace.

The union was voluntarily recognised by Microsoft at the beginning of the year, and consisted of around 300 testers within studios owned by ZeniMax including Bethesda, id Software, and Arkane.

The agreement struck up between the union and Zenimax over the company's use of AI is the first of its kind at a major US technology company and the first within the video game industry, the Communications Workers of America said in a press release.

The agreement commits ZeniMax to "human-centred AI implementations" which "augment human ingenuity and capacities" and "enhance worker productivity, growth, and satisfaction without causing workers harm". It is also bound to six "guiding principles" of AI: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusivity, transparency, and accountability. Zenimax must provide notice to the union where AI implementation "may impact the work of union members" and "bargain those impacts upon request", the CWA added.

In a statement shared in the press release, ZeniMax Workers United-CWA member and id Software QA tester Dylan Burton said the agreement was a "high priority" for the union. "It's hard to say how developments with AI may impact our work, but now we can be more confident that the agreement will help to protect us as we navigate the potential adoption of AI into our workflow.

"It is crucial that all workers have a voice in what role AI plays in their work and can hold their employers accountable for the impacts of its use. This agreement empowers us to shape the ways we may choose to use AI in our work and also gives us the means to address those impacts before their potential implementation."

CWA president Claude Cummings Jr. said: "Worker input is critical for ensuring that AI is human-centred, and this legally-binding agreement will help protect both workers and consumers from potential harms".

Last week, the CWA revealed Microsoft agreed to let 77 contract workers join the ZeniMax union. 23 of those 77 will be hired as full-time employees, while the remaining 54 will be hired as temporary employees once negotations end. Each contractor will also receive a free copy of Starfield, which the CWA said was the "major game release" they had been working on.

Microsoft recently announced a partnership with Inworld AI to offer generative AI development tools to Xbox studios.