Timnit Gebru—Fired by Google after co-authoring paper criticizing large language model risks
In December 2020, Google fired AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru after she co-authored 'On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots,' a paper highlighting risks of large language models including environmental costs, encoded biases, and the inability to understand language. Google demanded she retract the paper or remove her name; she refused. Her firing sparked widespread outrage in the AI research community, with thousands of Google employees and researchers signing open letters of protest.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Safety | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| DEI Programs | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Whistleblower Protection | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Worker Rights | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.885 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
NYT reported Google fired Timnit Gebru over AI ethics paper
The New York Times reported that Google fired prominent AI researcher Timnit Gebru after she refused to retract a research paper examining the risks and biases of large language models. Over 2,600 Google employees signed a letter protesting her dismissal.