The plight of Google's Ethical AI team

Hi, it’s Nico Grant in San Francisco. An important event at Google is getting overlooked in a wild week for tech stocks. But first… Today’s [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi, it’s Nico Grant in San Francisco. An important event at Google is getting overlooked in a wild week for tech stocks. But first… Today’s top tech news: - Meta lost more market value in one day than [any company in history]( - Amazon, meanwhile, is poised to add almost [$200 billion](, also a record - Shares of Snap [soared 54%]( and Pinterest climbed 32% in extended trading AI and the future In a tumultuous week for [tech stocks](, Alphabet Inc. is looking good. On Tuesday the company said it minted more than [$20 billion in profit]( in the fourth quarter, and would now [split its stock]( to entice new investors. Its shares shot upward, even as the market value of its rival Meta Platforms Inc. has [cratered](. Alphabet’s earnings report showed in part that the tech giant’s yearslong bet on artificial intelligence is paying off. But a day later, as shares rallied closer to a $2 trillion market value, there was also a less sunny development for the company and its artificial intelligence ambitions. At issue: the company’s tortured relationship with some of the employees it has tasked with examining AI and its potential unintended consequences. On Wednesday two influential members of the company’s Ethical AI team, Alex Hanna and Dylan Baker, [departed in a very public fashion](, dredging up a controversy Alphabet’s Google hoped was behind it. It’s been more than a year since Google dismissed Timnit Gebru, the co-leader of its Ethical AI team, after she criticized its technology and diversity practices. (Gebru says she was fired, and Google contends she resigned.) Gebru, a prominent Black AI expert, has since moved on to found a research institute—DAIR, or Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research—that will examine technology’s potential harms from a variety of global perspectives. Hanna and Baker are her newest employees. “I am quitting because I’m tired,” Hanna wrote in a [Medium post](. “I could describe, at length, my own experiences, being in rooms when higher-level managers yelled defensively at my colleagues and me when we pointed out the very direct harm that their products were causing to a marginalized population.” The internal drama of one department at one company may seem trivial, but Google’s sprawling power means that small moves can have important consequences. And as more processes rely on AI, researchers and other insiders like Hanna and Baker often play an important role in ensuring complex systems and products are harmless. Hanna and Baker had gained prominence within Google for helping teams across the company make their products inclusive for people of different gender expressions. One Googler described Hanna as Google’s de facto expert on gender identity and said, for that reason alone, her resignation is an immense loss for the company. The employee asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly. In a statement, a Google spokesperson said that the company appreciates Hanna and Baker’s contributions, is expanding work in this area and is committed to building a diverse and harmonious company. Google has in the past pointed to its numerous teams tasked with examining AI fairness and bias issues. Still, Gebru, Hanna and Baker all felt that working at Google was a hostile experience, and said so publicly. Hanna said Wednesday that it and other tech companies were “terrible places to work for people of color.” Their accounts have raised thorny questions about whether Google’s researchers can be independent, and if these controversies will rupture the pipeline for diverse talent. For now, Google’s leadership seems happy to pay attention to other things, like its blockbuster earnings. But as the company’s products spread throughout the world, the dysfunction in its Ethical AI department may not be confined to Mountain View. —[Nico Grant](mailto:ngrant20@bloomberg.net) If you read one thing At an all-hands virtual meeting Thursday, Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg played up the importance of a [short-video product]( as the company’s stock price sank. During the day, some staffers fretted about their net worth, and Zuckerberg’s own wealth [dropped]( by $31 billion. Here’s what you need to know Microsoft swooped in at a crucial time for Activision: The company’s [adjusted revenue fell 18%]( in the fourth quarter, it said Thursday. Spotify boss Daniel Ek’s net worth has [fallen by $1 billion]( so far in 2022. Amazon is raising the cost of a Prime subscription in the U.S. by $20 [to $139](—the first increase since 2018. What to watch: In a conversation with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, Reddit co-founder [Alexis Ohanian explains]( why he bought his wife, Serena Williams, a Bored Ape NFT. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Dig gadgets or video games? [Sign up for Power On]( to get Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more in your inbox on Sundays. [Sign up for Game On]( to go deep inside the video game business, delivered on Fridays. Why not try both? Like Fully Charged? | [Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com](, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters. 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