Gebru’s controversial exit sparked an outcry about diversity and ethics at the company that shows no signs of abating. The influential computer scientist lost her job in December after a dispute over a research paper she co-authored. Pichai had tried to quell the outrage by apologizing for her departure causing staff “to question their place at Google.” [Read: How this company leveraged AI to become the Netflix of Finland] On Thursday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, he said the dispute had attracted so much attention due to Google’s high levels of transparency: Gebru chastised his comments in a series of tweets. She called Pichai “a leader in gaslighting” and accused the company’s leadership team of creating “hostile work environments.”
— Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) January 28, 2021 While Pichai’s praise of Google’s transparency sounds more like spin than substance, he’s correct that the dispute has become unusually public. But that’s almost certainly due to growing internal dissent about diversity and ethics at Google. Gebru has become a powerful symbol of the discontent, which will likely rumble on for many months to come.
