Google in February fired Mitchell, a lead researcher, after a controversy.
New York:
Google confirmed on Tuesday that a leader of its artificial intelligence team has resigned in a departure that comes after the controversial dismissal of two colleagues.
The Internet giant declined to comment on the resignation of Samy Bengio, who has worked at Google for nearly four years and specializes in machine learning.
“While I look forward to my next challenge, there is no doubt that leaving this wonderful team is really difficult,” Bengio wrote in a work email first quoted by Bloomberg.
Bengio did not refer to Timnit Gebru or Margaret Mitchell, two former team members focused on ethical artificial intelligence.
Google fired Mitchell, a lead researcher, in February after last year’s controversy over the cessation of tech giant Gebru, a staunch advocate of diversity.
Bengio expressed his solidarity with Gebru in a shared message on Facebook that remained active on Tuesday.
“I have always been and will continue to be a strong supporter of their scientific work to ensure that AI becomes a positive force for the minority, as well as their generosity and tireless actions to raise the voice of the silenced,” Bengio said. about Gebru in the post.
Mitchell had downloaded and shared documents from the company, according to a Google statement earlier this year to Axios, which reported that it was an effort to show discrimination in the treatment of Gebru, who was fired last year.
In December, more than 1,400 Google employees demanded that the company explain why it fired Gebru.
“It’s sad to see this happen to the only director of the research organization who was doing the right thing,” Gebru said of Bengio on Twitter.
Mitchell used Twitter to thank Bengio for supporting her and Gebru and providing them with an inclusive environment.
“But once you see‘ sexism and racism, staying in an organization that stands by it becomes unsustainable, ’” Mitchell said in a tweet, predicting that more members of his former Google team would cease to be.
“There’s a lot of interest in responsible / ethical AI outside of Google, so the people we’ve worked with have a lot of options.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)