Google has fired Margaret Mitchell, co-leader of the ethics AI team, after she used an automated text to go through her email to find evidence of discrimination against her collaborator Timnit Gebru. The news was first reported by Axios.
Mitchell’s dismissal comes one day after Google announced a reorganization of its AI teams working on ethics and justice. According to a blog post, Marian Croak, a vice president in the engineering organization, is now leading ‘a new center of expertise on responsible AI within Google Research’.
According to her LinkedIn, Mitchell joined Google in 2016 as a senior research scientist. Two years later, she helped start the ethical AI team with Gebru, a renowned researcher known for her work on bias in facial recognition technology.
In December 2020, Mitchell and Gebru were working on a paper on the dangers of large language processing models when Megan Kacholia, vice president of Google Brain, called for the article to be withdrawn. Gebru pushed back, saying the company should be more open about why the research is not acceptable. Shortly afterwards, she was fired, although Google marked her departure as a resignation.
Following the termination of Gebru, Mitchell openly became critical of Google executives, including Jeff Dean, CEO of Google AI, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google. In January, she lost her corporate email access after Google began investigating her activity.
“After reviewing this manager’s conduct, we have confirmed that there are multiple violations of our code of conduct, as well as our security policies, which include filtering out confidential business sensitive documents and private data of other employees,” Google said in a statement. statement to Axios about Mitchell’s firing.
On Friday, Google announced that it would make changes to its research and diversity policies, following an investigation into the termination of Gebru. In an internal email, Jeff Dean apologized to staff for handling Gebru’s departure. ‘I heard and acknowledged what Dr. Gebru’s retirement means for female technologists, for those in the Black community and other under-represented groups pursuing their careers in technology, and for many people who care deeply about Google’s responsible use of AI. “This has led some to question their place here, which I regret,” he said.
The ethical AI team has been in a crisis since Gebru’s shooting in December. Following the reorganization announcement yesterday, senior researcher Alex Hanna wrote that the team was not aware of Croak’s appointment until the news became public on Wednesday night. “We have been told to trust the process, trust in decision makers like Marian Croak to look after our best interests,” she said on Twitter. “But these decisions were made behind our backs.”