- General
- December 3, 2020
- 7 minutes read
Top Google AI Employee Alleges Retaliation
Timnit Gebru, a well-known computer scientist who served as the technical co-lead of the Ethical Artificial Intelligence Team at Google just…
Timnit Gebru, a well-known computer scientist who served as the technical co-lead of the Ethical Artificial Intelligence Team at Google just until recently, has alleged that she’s been fired in retaliation for an e-mail which she sent to an internal company group.
In a series of tweets, Gebru alleged that she was fired by Google AI’s head Jeff Dean over an e-mail which she sent to an internal company group named Google Brain women and Allies, the contents of which weren’t disclosed.
I would post my email here but my corp account has been cutoff. I feel bad for my teammates but for me its better to know the beast than to pretend. @negar_rz didn’t even have any idea things had escalated this quickly.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) December 3, 2020
Gebru noted that she had previously been in talks with Google over a possible resignation if certain conditions weren’t met, whereas the said conditions aren’t known.
Apparently my manager’s manager sent an email my direct reports saying she accepted my resignation. I hadn’t resigned—I had asked for simple conditions first and said I would respond when I’m back from vacation. But I guess she decided for me 🙂 that’s the lawyer speak.
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) December 3, 2020
Notably, Gebru had worked at Google for a few years, wherein she was one of the company’s most well-known AI researchers. Before taking a job at Google, she held previous roles at Apple and Microsoft and also earned a doctorate at the prestigious Stanford University under the supervision of Fei-Fei Li, who was notably a Vice President and top AI executive at Google before her resignation two years ago.
