Google’s head of artificial intelligence (AI) apologized for the resignation of Timnit Gebru, one of its main researchers as the company announced new diversity policies.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., sent an email to employees on Friday describing the new changes, said a person familiar with the situation Bloomberg News. In the email obtained by the news agency, Google’s AI chief Jeff Dean apologized for handling Gebru’s departure.
Email was first reported by Axios.
“I understand that we could and should have handled the situation more sensitively,” wrote Dean in the email, according to Bloomberg. “And for that, I’m sorry.”
Dean acknowledged that the way Google handled Gebru hurt some black employees and led them to question whether they belonged. However, Dean did not apologize directly to Gebru in the email.
The Hill contacted Google for comment.
The changes came after Pichai said in December that he would review the process that led to Gebru’s resignation.
Gebru, who co-led the Google AI team, claimed that she was fired through an email questioning the censorship of a research article on the environmental and ethical implications of large-scale AI models.
At the time, Dean rejected the idea that she was fired and shared an email saying the company accepted her resignation. Thousands of employees signed a petition demanding transparency about their departure.
Pichai’s e-mail on Friday did not recognize what the review found, but detailed several changes in how he handles surveys and employee exits, according to Axios.
Gebru expressed dissatisfaction with the situation on Twitter on Friday.
“I didn’t expect anything more obviously”, Gebru tweeted. “I write an email asking for things, I get fired, and after a 3-month investigation, they say they should probably do some of the things I was supposed to get asked for, without holding anyone accountable for their actions.”
I obviously expected nothing more.
I write an e-mail asking for things, I get fired, and after a 3-month investigation, they say they should probably do some of the things I was supposed to get asked for, without holding anyone accountable for their actions. 1 / https://t.co/U2nmM07Dcm
– Timnit Gebru (@timnitGebru) February 19, 2021