Whistleblowers delayed

Greetings, it’s Jackie and Nate in New York where we’re filming new episodes of the Bloomberg Original series AI IRL. That’s how we happened [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Greetings, it’s Jackie and Nate in New York where we’re filming new episodes of the Bloomberg Original series AI IRL. That’s how we happened to interview Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind. But first... Today’s must-reads: • IBM will pause hiring for [jobs that AI could do]( • AI news is [roiling public markets]( • Salesforce’s Tableau [gets a new leader]( post-restructuring The founders’ lament Geoffrey Hinton — one of the so-called godfathers of artificial intelligence who spent decades revolutionizing the field and helping to create the advanced machine-learning technologies of today — announced this week that he has [left Google's AI research team.]( Hinton maintains that his departure was nothing personal. No knock on Google in particular. He’s instead joining the chorus of tech executives and academics who are more broadly raising alarms over what they see as the growing potential for harms from AI. In a Twitter post Monday, he [summed up]( his decision by saying: “I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google.'' If his story sounds vaguely familiar, consider the very long and ever-growing list of tech pioneers who helped create and fiercely advocated for transformative products, built businesses around them, often benefitted handsomely from them — and then dramatically walked away. Brian Acton and Jan Koum, founders of WhatsApp, fell out with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg (after selling him their company for $19 billion) over disagreements about the messaging app’s business model. Acton later joined the [#DeleteFacebook]( movement during the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Shortly thereafter, [Instagram’s founders]( Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger also left Facebook, six years after selling their company to Zuckerberg, amid growing tensions over the direction of the photo-sharing app and its place within the larger company. Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, had already [stepped down]( from the messaging platform — after intense criticism about how the site handled election misinformation and pressure from activist investors — when Elon Musk bought it for $44 billion. Dorsey was initially a supporter of the deal but later said it “[all went south](” after Musk took over. History is littered with examples. Steve Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple Inc., left the computer company in 1985 over [fundamental differences]( of opinion with Steve Jobs about the Apple II. My colleague Jackie and I had the chance to sit with Demis Hassabis, chief executive officer of DeepMind Technologies, the AI developer owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc., just after news of Hinton’s departure. Hassibis said he has a deep respect for Hinton, his friend and former colleague, but that he disagrees with the rationale. Leaving Google wasn’t a prerequisite for him voicing his concerns about the risks of AI. As CEO of DeepMind and in charge of all of Google’s AI development, Hassabis says he still has the freedom to speak out about the industry. “And Geoff could have done as well,” Hassabis told us. “He’s quite a maverick, Geoff.” Hassabis praised Hinton’s “unbelievable career” during the conversation. He offered up another reason Hinton might’ve wanted to quit: “Perhaps he wants to write some books or muse on things.” Hassabis said that he hadn’t caught up with his old colleague in a couple of years and “it’d be interesting to talk to him further.” With the future of AI still being written, there’s probably a lot to talk about.  —[Nate Lanxon](mailto:nlanxon@bloomberg.net) and [Jackie Davalos](mailto:jdavalos10@bloomberg.net) The big story International law enforcement officials arrested 288 people and seized [850 kilograms of drugs]( as part of an investigation into an online market for narcotics. Get fully charged Uber shares surged Tuesday after the company reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, showing that [people are still spending]( on rides and delivery. Coinbase is launching an international derivatives exchange for institutional [crypto traders outside the US](. 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