In response to questions from Bloomberg, Google said responsible AI remains a top priority at the company. “We are continuing to invest in the teams that work on applying our AI Principles to our technology,” said Brian Gabriel, a spokesperson. The team working on responsible AI shed at least three members in a January round of layoffs at the company, including the head of governance and programs. The cuts affected about 12,000 workers at Google and its parent company.
The next month, Gennai overruled a risk evaluation submitted by members of her team stating Bard was not ready because it could cause harm, according to people familiar with the matter. Shortly after, Bard was opened up to the public — with the company calling it an “experiment.” But ChatGPT’s remarkable debut meant that by early this year, there was no turning back. In February, Google began a blitz of generative AI product announcements, touting chatbot Bard, and then the company’s video service YouTube, which said creators would soon be able to virtually swap outfits in videos or create “fantastical film settings” using generative AI.
After the scandal, Google tried to improve its public reputation. The responsible AI team was reorganized under Marian Croak, then a vice president of engineering. She pledged to double the size of the AI ethics team and strengthen the group’s ties with the rest of the company. Still, when employees on Google’s product and engineering teams look for a reason the company has been slow to market on AI, the public commitment to ethics tends to come up. Some in the company believed new tech should be in the hands of the public as soon as possible, in order to make it better faster with feedback.Article content