Senior AI ethics researcher says she was fired from Google

Thursday morning, after a lot of support for Gebru on social media, Dean sent a internal email

to Google’s artificial intelligence group with their report on the situation. He said Gebru’s article “did not meet our publication standard” because it “ignored too much relevant research”. He also said that Gebru’s terms included “revealing the identities of all those with whom Megan and I had spoken and consulted in the course of document review and specific comments.”

“Given Timnit’s role as a respected researcher and manager within our ethical AI team, I’m sorry that Timnit has reached a point where he feels this way about the work we do,” he wrote. “I know we all genuinely share Timnit’s passion for making AI more equitable and inclusive.”

Neither Gebru, Dean, nor Google Communications responded to requests for comment, and many details on the exact progress of events or the cause of the termination remain unclear. As they continue to emerge, many have drawn renewed attention to a tweet from November 30 that Gebru pinned to the top of his profile. “Is anyone working on regulations that protect ethical AI researchers, such as to protect whistleblowers?” it reads. “Because with the amount of censorship and intimidation that is applied to people belonging to specific groups, how can anyone believe that real research can be done in this area?”