Google’s head of artificial intelligence (AI) apologized for the resignation of Timnit Gebru, one of its top researchers when the company announced a new diversity policy.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc., sent an email to employees on Friday outlining the new changes, a person familiar with the situation said. Bloomberg NewsIn the email the news report received, Google’s AI chief Jeff Dean apologized for handling Gebru’s exit.
The email was first reported by Axios.
“I understand we could and should have handled the situation more sensitively,” Dean wrote in the email, Bloomberg said. “And I’m sorry for that.”
Dean acknowledged that Google’s dealings with Gebru hurt some female and black employees, and led them to wonder if they belonged. Dean did not apologize directly to Gebru in the email, however.
The Hill has contacted Google for comment.
The changes come after Pichai said in December that he would review the process that led to Gebru’s dismissal.
Gebru, who co-leads Google’s ethical AI team, claimed she was fired via an email questioning the censorship of a research paper on the ecological and ethical implications of large-scale AI models.
At the time, Dean pushed back the idea that she had been fired and shared an email saying the company would accept her resignation. Thousands of employees signed a petition demanding transparency around her departure.
Pichai’s email on Friday did not confirm what the review found, but Axios said several changes to the way the investigation handles and employee abandonment were detailed.
Gebru expressed his displeasure with the situation on Friday on Twitter.
“I didn’t expect anything clearer,” Gebru tweeted“I write an email asking for things, I get fired, and after a three-month investigation they say they should probably do some of the things I supposedly asked for without holding anyone accountable for their actions . “
I didn’t expect anything clearer.
I write an email asking for things, I get fired, and after a three month investigation, they say they should probably do some of the things I supposedly asked for, without holding anyone accountable for their actions. 1 / https://t.co/U2nmM07Dcm
– Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021