Google fired Dr. Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, co-leads of its ethical AI team, for co-writing a critical research paper on large language models leading to harmful outcomes.

“This claim is well-supported by extensive reporting. In December 2020, Dr. Timnit Gebru stated she was fired after a dispute over an order to retract a research paper critical of large language models. Google has maintained she resigned. In February 2021, her co-lead, Margaret Mitchell, was also fired. Google's stated reason for Mitchell's termination was violations of company policy, as she was searching for evidence of discrimination against Gebru. However, both firings are widely seen as being directly connected to the controversial paper and the subsequent fallout. Context: The paper in question, "On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? 🦜," highlighted the environmental costs and embedded biases of the large-scale AI models that are central to Google's business. The departures of two of the most prominent women in AI ethics sparked widespread criticism of Google and a broader debate about corporate influence over scientific research.”