.png "back to home page")
Changes: tying exec pay companywide to diversity and inclusion goals, streamlining of research publishing practices, more investments in retention and HR people to handle controversial exits.https://t.co/Xh91s3gV3y
— Ina Fried (@inafried) February 19, 2021
Timnit Gebru's former co-head of Google's Ethics #AI group says she too has been fired. https://t.co/kBRDWMgFcD via @tsimonite
— Scott Thurm (@ScottThurm) February 20, 2021
She is also planning "a critical assessment of all the AI systems that are deployed and currently being designed...to mitigate...potential harms that exist.”
— Tom Simonite (@tsimonite) February 18, 2021
Which seems like something a company serious about responsible AI would have started already https://t.co/7qQBeQa9DA
Once again, a mediocre, unremarkable, white dude in tech is enabled, instead of facing the consequences of being unable to manage his fuckin feelings
— Kim Crayton ~ Antiracist Economist ~ She/Her ✊? (@KimCrayton1) February 19, 2021
We all knew that he’d get to play the hero/victim and not the villain because y’all should know by now how to Spot The Pattern https://t.co/7iPF5dZLYr
Good luck to Marian Croak in her new job as Google's head of responsible AI. (She'll need it.)https://t.co/gjyaqMbuLm
— Pedro Domingos (@pmddomingos) February 18, 2021
The desired one. Terrorize and suppress the voices of employees from marginalized communities. https://t.co/M6so1ME96Y
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 20, 2021
I'm fired.
— MMitchell (@mmitchell_ai) February 19, 2021
I really can't think of how Google could have handled this thing worse. They've let it drag on for weeks with a drip, drip, drip of ugly headlines. In the end, they've gutted the leadership of their AI ethics team -- which is, to put it generously, worrying. https://t.co/CnbGmpESel
— Daisuke Wakabayashi (@daiwaka) February 19, 2021
Google couldn't have handled this more stupidly. (1) drag it out across weeks, (2) do the exact action to revoke access that makes clear why someone would want to preserve evidence off-corp, (3) fail entirely to rebut the intent/motive of opposing unlawful employment practice
— Liz Fong-Jones (方禮真) (@lizthegrey) February 19, 2021
"I'm sorry for how it made you feel." https://t.co/kGZu8Ri53G
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
Margaret Mitchell was the co-leader of a group investigating ethics in AI, alongside Timnit Gebru, who said she was fired in December. https://t.co/SgwQUP5lp5
— WIRED Gadget Lab (@gadgetlab) February 20, 2021
Between the lines: None of these moves seem likely to quell the continued frustration over this matter, especially within Google's Ethical AI team, members of whom says they continue to be blindsided by the company's moves.https://t.co/Xh91s3gV3y
— Ina Fried (@inafried) February 19, 2021
The village was destroyed in order to save it https://t.co/dIVLtQHEye
— Azeem Azhar (@azeem) February 19, 2021
I wish the diversity numbers would be granularly disaggregated by roles so that ppl see how bad they are when they're released.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
So that they'd know just how bad they are in the research org--even worse, way worse than the rest of the company.
Hopefully no one will ask why. https://t.co/zb1n2YXjcS
FYI this is happening concurrently to several other tech workers at different companies. They ask for a change, something the company already markets as a thing they do ("We're diverse and inclusive!!! We pay you like a man!!!"). Then they get fired or are asked to leave. https://t.co/1U8a4rUR7k
— Florence "U4EA" Ion (@Ohthatflo) February 19, 2021
TL;DR: Jeff Dean is sorry you feel that way. https://t.co/mGmFLXpBng
— Daniel Lowd (@dlowd) February 19, 2021
This is a great example why I’ve shifted from causing a scene, on Twitter at least...we need alternative paths because this CANNOT be the default experience for the next generation of technologists from marginalized communities https://t.co/t5nyQrw5Gd
— Kim Crayton ~ Antiracist Economist ~ She/Her ✊? (@KimCrayton1) February 19, 2021
For the second time in three months, Google has fired a prominent woman researcher on ethics in artificial intelligence. Following Timnit Gebru's departure in December, Margaret Mitchell says she has been fired from the company’s AI lab, Google Brain https://t.co/br5F2mv2U0
— WIRED (@WIRED) February 20, 2021
Dean did not apologize to Gebru in the email. The memo also discusses new review processes for AI research to deal particularly with sensitive work. He does not address the issue raised by Gebru's treatment as to if Google ethics researchers can scrutinize the co's own products.
— Dina Bass (@dinabass) February 19, 2021
Seeing how @timnitGebru and @mmitchell_ai have been abused by @Google leaders, you need to ask why we trust them with our data. A culture of disregard of scientific integrity, out of this world gaslighting, misogynie, and racism... If we let it slides, we are creating a monster. https://t.co/vdzFWyIUzz
— Jonathan Mboyo Esole (@JMEsole) February 20, 2021
I’m glad you clarified that it’s an “I’m sorry how this made you feel” and then followed by this.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 20, 2021
You know, I would bet money they had decided to fire Meg when they came up with that trash statement a month or so ago but strung her & team along thinking this is the best timing. https://t.co/kGZu8Ri53G
But writing this email and then doing what they did in the afternoon. I know they don’t give a damn as someone else said this must be some sort of record. https://t.co/KxhAhnKFmT
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 20, 2021
...And this is how I find out. I'm so glad for all the trust they've rebuilt. It seems I've been completely erased and my team taken.https://t.co/1BTGOo5Wry
— MMitchell (@mmitchell_ai) February 18, 2021
? "How can you still ask why there aren’t Black women in this industry?” @timnitGebru https://t.co/4mF2gapelU
— Nitasha Tiku (@nitashatiku) February 19, 2021
New: Google concludes investigation of its handling of @timnitGebru. Doesn't announce findings but makes a few policy changes. Margaret Mitchell still locked out of corporate email but remains google employee. New @JeffDean memo. https://t.co/vOpxfRlCMS
— Ina Fried (@inafried) February 19, 2021
Is anyone falling for the timing? While terrorizing and harassing the Ethical AI team, announce a re-org of Responsible AI with a Black woman on top?
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 18, 2021
My biggest disappointment is with Marian Croak legitimizing this. Starting with hosting Megan & Jeff's gaslighting session. https://t.co/JpdZASDtYj
Leaving aside the main issue, this whole affair is so utterly bizarre from a corporate communications perspective. What is Google trying to accomplish? Do they even know? https://t.co/HNodQ6H5UI
— Steve Canon (@stephentyrone) February 19, 2021
.@timnitGebru responding to Google concluding it’s investigation. https://t.co/DakEH1KfeM
— Ina Fried (@inafried) February 19, 2021
Google will double HR resources for retention but not double resources targeting poor judgment on the part of senior execs? https://t.co/tg3xwttinT
— Azeem Azhar (@azeem) February 19, 2021
Google fires researcher Meg Mitchell, escalating AI saga.
— BloombergQuint (@BloombergQuint) February 20, 2021
Read more: https://t.co/kQWZElqCSd pic.twitter.com/8LPo3memJH
Mitchell had been locked out of corporate e-mail since last month after what Google said was an apparent misuse of systems and a source said was her effort to search for evidence to back up claims of harassment and discrimination by @timnitGebru https://t.co/J2wa0nYVl6
— Ina Fried (@inafried) February 19, 2021
Google fired AI ethics researcher @mmitchell_ai yesterday a few hours after it was reported they internally apologized for how they fired @timnitGebru saying they "should have handled the situation with more sensitivity."
— Kent Bye VoicesOfVR (@kentbye) February 20, 2021
More context from @dinabass:https://t.co/BBh87DpdBS https://t.co/WWGxireOuF pic.twitter.com/CT6FgEzaI9
Google on a Friday evening: “Being evil is good, actually” https://t.co/IHsOqyvmzd
— Devindra Hardawar (@Devindra) February 20, 2021
Google told employees today it has wrapped up its investigation into the ouster of prominent AI researcher Timnit Gebru. The company said it is making some changes to how it handles issues around research, diversity and employee exits. https://t.co/1d5iMR0RBp
— Axios (@axios) February 19, 2021
Let me make it clear. People have been falling over themselves to recruit Meg and she will thrive, whatever she does next, wherever.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
Its about how trash they are though and what they continue to do to people with IMPUNITY. https://t.co/UooGEdod6D
And now @mmitchell_ai has tweeted that she's been fired. So Google apologized for the impact of @timnitGebru's firing and hours later fires her former co-lead of Ethical AI research? What impact is that supposed to have on employees?
— Dina Bass (@dinabass) February 19, 2021
Here's a sentence:
— Avi Asher-Schapiro (@AASchapiro) February 19, 2021
"Google told employees Friday it has wrapped up its investigation into the ouster of prominent AI researcher Timnit Gebru. The company declined to say what the internal inquiry found...." https://t.co/9rEsLMxXEk
I expected nothing more obviously.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
I write an email asking for things, I get fired, and then after a 3 month investigation, they say they should probably do some of the things I presumably got fired asking for, without holding anyone accountable for their actions. 1/ https://t.co/U2nmM07Dcm
It turns out the Ethical AI team was the last to know about a massive reorganization, which was prompted by our advocacy. This was not communicated with us at all, despite promises that it would be.https://t.co/tlOx8ezmuQ
— Dr. Alex Hanna (@alexhanna) February 18, 2021
The more I think of this, with the length of this so called investigation, the timing of the new re-org, what they're doing to Meg, the team etc, this whole thing was probably to stall for time to quiet down the news cycle. It took 3 months to get to this? https://t.co/KxhAhnKFmT
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
Exec drafted to oversee "responsible AI" at Google in the wake of the Timnit Gebru scandal says she wants to "galvanize the unique talent we have...and consolidate them in a way that there's synergistic unification of their talents." https://t.co/HQWpZ7M1rm
— Tom Simonite (@tsimonite) February 18, 2021
To be fair, you can continue to fire women and POC and continue to apologize for how it makes people feel.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
Oh oops I did that again?
I'm sorry it made you feel that way. https://t.co/BdFYFvbCme
You know I'm starting to think that this was probably what they had in mind from day 1. Starting with the gaslighting session of Black Googlers by Megan & Jeff hosted by Marian Croak.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 18, 2021
I wouldn't be surprised if Kent Walker was involved in this strategy too. 1/2 https://t.co/JpdZASDtYj
They're still doing what they're doing to my team, my co-lead's been locked out for 5 weeks. They timed a re-org announcement RIGHT BEFORE this. There's no connection right?
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
But 3 months later they obviously can't hold anyone with any real power accountable. Thats impossible 2/
Hey #CSed we still need to be in the loop on this.....continue to pay attention. https://t.co/nKPK7dYz20
— Shana V. White (she/her) (@ShanaVWhite) February 19, 2021
In the span of three months, Google has fired two prominent woman researchers who were investigating ethics in artificial intelligence https://t.co/IFyvGCjNCk
— WIRED (@WIRED) February 20, 2021
We have to do better job as a technology community
— Kim Crayton ~ Antiracist Economist ~ She/Her ✊? (@KimCrayton1) February 19, 2021
We cannot continue to create products/services that disproportionately harm marginalized voices by replicating society's commitment to white supremacy and anti-Blackness https://t.co/k2aWoqTE40 pic.twitter.com/xanO8AD4bW
Excellent. Once again @JeffDean does this without consulting her manager Samy Bengio.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
Can't wait for the next time he talks about ethics & responsible AI.
And for Marian Croak's legacy to be this.
I have to thank all of them for getting me out of this horrible place. https://t.co/DpmNffAREO
Google has fired Margaret Mitchell who led the ethical AI team alongside Timnit Gebru. Mitchell had been using an automated script to look through her emails & find evidence of discrimination against Gebru: https://t.co/SgtV1GkR65
— Zoë Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) February 19, 2021
Google continues trying to erase the problem it created when firing Timnit Gebru... by firing another AI Ethics leadhttps://t.co/Y07Lb1kdfz
— Android Central (@androidcentral) February 20, 2021
They've been working on this trust for a long time it seems.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 18, 2021
Mind you Meg is still locked out. Our team is working on their performance reviews under this condition, after being terrorized and harassed, their lead locked out and now re-org.
And the face of it is a Black woman. https://t.co/xReMTC4Hq7
As per previous by @inafried Google's Jeff Dean has apologized for the way @timnitGebru's dismissal was handled in terms of how it made women/underrepresented groups feel and co is adding diversity goals to exec performance reviews: https://t.co/H9GoOcqlJu with @NicoAGrant
— Dina Bass (@dinabass) February 19, 2021
Google ended its investigation into the firing of @timnitGebru today, and Jeff Dean's email to staff used the word "sensitive" no less than six times as a sort of euphemism for "controversial." https://t.co/eOmxLnnEue
— Anna Kramer (@anna_c_kramer) February 19, 2021
"It led some to question their place here, which I regret." More nonapologies. They are experts on this.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
Email also hints towards more research censorship. A big win for ethics (not).
I imagine many researchers will leave with other companies taking advantage. Congrats. 3/
Google continues its crackdown on employee dissent, particularly from women. https://t.co/3hVQY2LJrx
— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) February 19, 2021
It's not really a great sign that google has fired the two people they hireds to run their AI Ethics team. https://t.co/2pKaQOlQRl
— rabble (@rabble) February 20, 2021
TFW your Friday afternoon news dump non-apology about your previous messed-up AI ethics firing gets in the way of your Friday afternoon news dump about your latest messed-up AI ethics firing https://t.co/XjWagk6mVx
— Jason Snell (@jsnell) February 19, 2021
What Terminator got wrong was that Skynet would also be a huge racist. https://t.co/YYIx1PuN7M
— Lilah Sturges - GIRL HAVEN 2/16! (@LilahSturges) February 20, 2021
In the annals of tone-deaf HR and PR moves, @JeffDean promising to do better after firing @timnitGebru then turning around and firing @mmitchell_ai THE VERY SAME DAY has got to set some sort of record.https://t.co/WPdxloTiJu pic.twitter.com/ebqVdRlvd6
— Aaron Weiss (@aweiss) February 19, 2021
"increase its staff related to employee retention." Yea? When the HR, Legal and VPs conspire to fire someone like that what would "more staff for employee retention" do? What power do they have?
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
There is ZERO accountability. ZERO.
What is going on within Google’s management re: ethics and AI is so completely fucked up.
— Mar Hicks (@histoftech) February 20, 2021
TL;DR: after pushing out @timnitGebru it appears the company is slashing and burning the rest of the ethical AI team so it is no longer a force for ethical AI in the corporation. https://t.co/quw0mzA6De
You see they fired your prior manager and said something about expectations of her "as a manager" and then locked out your other manager.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
What we were doing to create a safe space for you was very unbecoming of a Google manager. This is the norm.
Also don't forget diplomacy https://t.co/JqFVDm5McF
"Part of the new process will include a review and outline of the kinds of research the company believes it should be conducting."
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
Interesting how they fire me after I ask what the parameters of the research I can do at Google are.
What they're announcing is more censorship. https://t.co/cKCzRzP8Ch
I will have a lot more to say about this later. But announcing a new org by a Black woman as if we’re all interchangeable while harassing, terrorizing and gaslighting my team and doing absolutely ZERO to acknowledge & redress the harm that’s been done is beyond gaslighting. https://t.co/cMtHqCte4e
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 18, 2021
The Google ethical AI research situation keeps getting messier. https://t.co/92wNWcCbgY
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) February 20, 2021
These changes— like tying exec pay to meeting DI objectives, or staffing for retention — would never have occurred without someone like Timnit pushing as hard as she pushed. But who gets credit for these improvements? Not her, she gets fired. For the pushing. https://t.co/E5AJVwSBJq
— Shannon Vallor (@ShannonVallor) February 19, 2021
Oh no Angela its in your head. I regret how that makes you feel. Those emails you got threatening you and your spouse? I'm sorry how that made you feel too. https://t.co/9bHoTv1g8U
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021
Google just closed the investigation into @timnitGebru’s firing, and now her former co-lead has also been fired.
— Anna Kramer (@anna_c_kramer) February 19, 2021
Here’s my story about Jeff Dean’s email today: https://t.co/eOmxLnnEue https://t.co/fSSBNiQMWu
Breaking: Google reportedly fired Margaret Mitchell, its Ethical AI Team founder (story by @mrgreene1977) https://t.co/WjLasqN542
— TNW (@thenextweb) February 20, 2021
Breaking: Google reportedly fired Margaret Mitchell, its Ethical AI Team founder (story by @mrgreene1977) https://t.co/CmR6AmKgAN
— TNW (@thenextweb) February 19, 2021
NEW: Google fires another AI ethics leader https://t.co/Nz8zmU61VY
— Axios (@axios) February 19, 2021
Google fires another AI ethics leader https://t.co/shran0NWUF
— Jeffrey Vagle (@jvagle) February 20, 2021
Google fires Ethical AI lead Margaret Mitchell via #venturebeat #bigdata #technology https://t.co/E7W4pxxWX7
— claudîus (@dataclaudius) February 19, 2021
US employment is usually at will; either side can end. That's not the problem. But smearing someone in public while refusing to discuss the alleged violations privately is disgusting. This isn't first or last time. Collectively we have an ethics problem.https://t.co/MY723gVCbX
— Monica Cellio (@MonicaCellio) February 21, 2021