Nigeria, April 8 -- Google is reportedly paying some of its artificial intelligence workers in the UK to stay off the job for up to a year, all in an effort to stop them from joining competing companies.

This strategy is said to be part of a noncompete agreement used by DeepMind, the tech giant's AI arm based in London.

The deal means certain employees are kept on the payroll while being legally prevented from taking up jobs with rival firms such as OpenAI or Microsoft.

According to a report from Business Insider, these employees are not allowed to work for competitors during this break, which can feel like a long forced vacation.

While they continue to receive their salaries, many of them are said to be unhappy with being kept away f...