Google’s leadership in AI was attacked in December, when star ethics researcher Timnit Gebru was abruptly fired while working on a paper on the dangers of large language models. Now, new reports from Bloomberg suggests that the unrest began long before it ended – and includes allegations of bias and sexual harassment.
Shortly after Gebru joined Google in 2018, she informed her boss that a colleague had been accused of sexual harassment at another organization. Google researcher Katherine Heller reported the same incident, which included allegations of inappropriate touching. Google immediately opened an investigation into the man’s behavior. Bloomberg he did not name the man accused of harassment and The Verge he does not know his identity.
The accusations coincided with an even more explosive story. Andy Rubin, “Android’s father,” received a $ 90 million exit package, despite being credibly accused of sexual misconduct. The news sparked outrage at Google, and 20,000 employees left work to protest the company’s management of sexual harassment.
Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, co-leader of the AI ethics team, went to AI chief Jeff Dean with a “litany of concerns,” according to Bloomberg. They told Dean about the colleague who had been accused of harassment and said there was a perceived pattern of excluding and undermining women in the research team. Some have been given smaller roles than men, despite better qualifications. Mitchell also said she was denied promotion because of “nebulous complaints to HR about her personality.”
Dean was skeptical about the harassment allegations, but said he would investigate, Bloomberg reports. He pushed back the idea that there was a female model in the research team who was getting lower-level positions than men.
After the meeting, Dean announced a new research project with the alleged harassment at the helm. Nine months later, the man was fired for “driving problems,” he said Bloomberg. He had been accused of misconduct at Google, although the investigation was still ongoing.
After the man was fired, he threatened to sue Google. The legal team told employees who had talked about his behavior that they could hear from the man’s lawyers. The company was “vague” if it defended the whistleblowers, Bloomberg reports.
The harassment charge was not an isolated incident. Gebru and colleagues reported additional allegations of misconduct and assault after the initial charge.
In a statement sent by e-mail to The Verge, a Google spokesman said: “We are investigating any allegations and taking firm action against employees who violate our clear workplace policies.”
Gebru said there are also ongoing issues causing Google to abide by the work of the AI ethics team. When it tried to look for a data set launched by the automotive company Google Waymo, the project became surrounded by “legal negotiations”. Gebru wanted to explore how the skin tone affected Waymo’s pedestrian detection technology. “Waymo employees questioned the team, including why they were interested in skin color and what they intended to do with the results,” he said. Bloomberg article.
After Gebru became public about her shooting, she received a harassing attack from people who claimed she was trying to get the victim’s attention and play. The latest news further validates her answer that the issues she raised were part of a model of alleged bias of the research team.
Updated April 21, 6:05 PM ET: Article updated with Google statement.