Google to Review Controversial Dismissal of Top AI Researcher - CEO

Google CEO Sundar Pichai apologized to staffers on Wednesday for the company's handling of AI ethics researcher Dr. Timnit Gebru's departure. The Google CEO also pledged to launch a "review" of Gebru's departure in an attempt to "identify all the points where we can learn." Days prior to Pichai's apology, Gebru - who had been one of the 1.6% of Google's employees who are Black women - claimed she was terminated from the company shortly after sending an email regarding her disappointment in Google's approach to diversity, equity and inclusion. Google AI researcher Nicholas Le Roux, a white man, defended his ex-colleague on Twitter, arguing that the "easiest way to discriminate is to make stringent rules, then to decide when and for whom to enforce them." Other individuals, like former Google public relations manager William Fitzgerald, expressed their disagreement with the company's handling of the situation.