Google scraps AI ethics council after backlash: 'Back to the drawing board'

Google is ending a new artificial intelligence ethics council just one week after launching it, following protests from employees over the appointment of a rightwing thinktank leader. The rapid downfall of the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC), which was dedicated to "the responsible development of AI", came after more than 2,000 Google workers signed a petition criticizing the company's selection of an anti-LGBT advocate. "It's become clear that in the current environment, ATEAC can't function as we wanted. So we're ending the council and going back to the drawing board," a Google spokesperson told the Guardian in a statement on Thursday. Google faced intense backlash soon after announcing that one of the eight council members was Kay Coles James, the president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative thinktank with close ties to Donald Trump's administration.