Google Scientist’s Abrupt Exit Exposes Rift in Prominent AI Unit
- Timnit Gebru departed after management criticism of an email
- AI unit leader Dean accused of retaliation, chided by staffers
Photographer: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images
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Google’s decision to part ways with a prominent researcher laid bare divisions within the company’s artificial intelligence unit and subjected its leader, the lauded software engineer Jeff Dean, to widespread scorn.
Timnit Gebru, a renowned scientist and one of the few Black women in AI, said Wednesday she was fired over an email she authored expressing dismay with management and the way it handled a review of her research. Gebru had been co-head of the team examining the ethical ramifications of AI.