Category Archives: Google

Google is changing its policies related to research and diversity after completing an internal investigation into the firing of ethical AI team co-leader Timnit Gebru, according to Axios. The company intends to tie the pay of certain executives to diversity and inclusivity goals. Its also making changes to how sensitive employee exits are managed.

Although Google did not reveal the results of the investigation, the changes seem to be direct responses to how the situation with Gebru went down. After Google demanded that a paper she co-authored be retracted, Gebru told research team management that she would resign from her position and work on a transition plan, unless certain conditions were met. Instead of a transition plan, the company immediately ended her employment while she was on vacation. This sparked backlash from members of her team, and even caused some Google engineers to quit in protest.

Google had claimed that Gebrus paper was not submitted properly, though the research team disagreed. Google has now said it will streamline its process for publishing research, according to Axios, but the exact details of the policy changes werent given.

In an internal email to staff, Jeff Dean, head of AI at Google, wrote:

I heard and acknowledge what Dr. Gebrus exit signified to female technologists, to those in the Black community and other underrepresented groups who are pursuing careers in tech, and to many who care deeply about Googles responsible use of AI. It led some to question their place here, which I regret.

He also apologized for how Gebrus exit was handled, although he stopped short of calling it a firing.

The policy changes come a day after Google restructured its AI teams, a change which members of the ethical AI team were the last to know about, according to research scientist Alex Hanna, who is a part of the team.

Google declined to share the updated policies with The Verge, instead pointing to Axioss article for details.

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Google is changing its diversity and research policies after Timnit Gebrus firing - The Verge

The customer acquisition game has changed in the last year for DTC brands, with customer acquisition costs fluctuating and e-commerce becoming the dominant retail channel. Two-year-old DTC brand Xena Workwear is an online-only brand thats managed to ride some of those changes to a year of growth. Its annual sales increased by more than 1,000% in 2020, and the company hit a milestone of selling 1,000 pairs of boots per month.

Xena CMO Eugene Furman attributed the growth to efficient use of Google Shopping and Google search ads, which along with Facebook ads, make up more than 75% of the brands marketing budget. While Amazon is where many consumers begin their search, he said hed rather invest in Google because of the wealth of data it provides, compared to Amazon.

Amazon controls all of your data, Furman said. If someone searches [your brand] on Amazon, all the data goes to Amazon. They control everything. They may share it with you, but theyre trying to drive sales on their own site. But Google drives to your site, and they want to promote you. Amazon is sort of like renting, and Google is like owning. We just get a lot more data from Google about whos searching for us, how many people clicked through and what [search] terms are pointing to us.

Furman said Xena has been increasing its ad spend on Google, up to several thousand dollars per day from just over $1,000, over the last six months. In that time, 90% of the customers who landed on the site via Google Shopping were new customers, and the brand saw a 10x return on investment off the total ad spend.

But Furman said growing through Google isnt as simple as putting more money in.

The basic goal is to increase spend and continue seeing returns, Furman said. Its actually a little difficult to scale that, though. I cant just pour $1 million into Google overnight and expect to see $1 million worth of return. The algorithm needs time to adjust and serve your ads to the right people, which takes time. Increasing your spend by a lot, all at once, gives you diminishing returns. So were trying to increase our spend on Google ads slowly, but steadily. Were up to a few thousand dollars per day, which is pretty significant as you can imagine, but as long as we continue to see returns, well keep growing that spend.

Furman said as the brand has grown, its expanded what ad words its using from solely branded terms to adjacent terms, like horseback riding.

Google has made changes to how its Shopping tab works in the last year, making it free to sell on Google in April of 2020 and ceasing commission charges for Google Shopping sales in June. Now, it costs nothing for brands to have their products listed on Google, though they can still pay for sponsored listings at the top of a Google search page. While paid listings still beat out free listings and the usual SEO strategies are at work for determining the order of search results, Google presents this change as a win-win for all involved.

For retailers, this change means free exposure to millions of people who come to Google every day for their shopping needs, said Bill Ready, president of commerce at Google. For shoppers, it means more products from more stores, discoverable through the Google Shopping tab. For advertisers, this means paid campaigns can now be augmented with free listings.

Brands have largely returned to spending on Google ads in the last quarter, after pulling back from a lot of digital spending throughout 2020. In the quarter ending at the beginning of February, Googles search and ad revenue was $31.9 billion, up from $27.2 billion in the previous quarter.

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How Xena Workwears Google Shopping strategy led to 10x ad returns - Glossy

Tech companies including Facebook and Google have released the final version of a long-awaited industry code to address the spread of misinformation on their services in Australia.

The release comes only days after Facebook blocked Australians from viewing and sharing "news content" on its platform, leading experts to predict that misinformation would spread more rapidly in the news vacuum.

The code could change the experience of using social media in Australia, with more pop-up warnings about fake news, as well as better systems to report misinformation.

Misinformation is false or misleading information, and disinformation is the same, but spread with an intent to mislead.

In December 2019, the Australian Government asked the digital industry to develop a code to address disinformation. A pandemic later, these companies, represented by the industry association DIGI, have now released a final version.

Under the code, which is voluntary, all signatories commit to develop and implement measures to deal with mis- and disinformation on their services.

The current signatories are Twitter, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, TikTok and Redbubble (an online marketplace for user-submitted art).

The emphasis of the code is on outcomes rather than specific actions: signatories will choose how to best address misinformation on their service.

The code gives examples of what they may do, including labelling false content, demoting the ranking of content, prioritising credible sources, suspension or disabling of accounts and removal of content.

The signatories will each publish an annual report on their progress.

The Australian media regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which is tasked with overseeing the development of the code, criticised this lack of specific measures or targets when DIGI released a draft version of the code in October 2020.

The ACMA has the power to recommend the government introduce mandatory regulation if the code isn't up to scratch.

But commenting on Monday on the release of the final version, which experts say is much the same as the draft one, the ACMA was broadly positive.

ACMA chairwoman Nerida O'Loughlin said she welcomed the code as a flexible and proportionate approach to dealing with mis- and disinformation online.

"The code anticipates platforms' actions will be graduated and proportionate to the risk of harm," she said.

"This will assist them to strike an appropriate balance between dealing with troublesome content and the right to freedom of speech and expression.

"Signatories will also publish an annual report and additional information on actions that they will take so that users know what to expect when they access these services."

The code also contains a range of non-mandatory objectives including having better systems for reporting incidents of misinformation, and disallowing fake news accounts from collecting advertising money.

The company debuts an overhaul of its core social network as it tries to move past a stream of scandals while tapping new revenue sources.

The final version of the code adds an extra objective that was not in the draft: to provide greater transparency about the source of political advertising on platforms.

Facebook and Google already publish real-time data on how much money parties and other groups are spending on political ads.

Andrea Carson, an associate professor in communication at La Trobe University, said the code was a good start and the companies should be given a chance to show how they will address disinformation.

"It's too premature to speak too much about it until we give the code a go and see how serious and sincere the companies are," she said.

"The platforms are still teenagers and it's taken a while for the laws to catch up and now we're getting into that space."

The ACMA will report to the government no later than 30 June 2021 on initial compliance with the code and its effectiveness.

Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher said the government "will be watching carefully to see whether this voluntary code is effective".

The European Union oversaw the introduction of a voluntary industry code for disinformation in 2018, but is now looking at mandatory regulation.

A May 2020 independent review of the EU code found the self-regulatory nature of the agreement made it difficult for the platforms to be held to account for breaches in the code.

Reset Australia, an organisation working to counter digital threats to democracy, described the DIGI code as "pointless and shameless" and proposed in its place a public regulator with the power to issue fines and other penalties.

Reset Australia Executive Director Chris Cooper said companies such as Facebook were continuing to use algorithms that actively promote misinformation, despite committing to addressing the problem.

"This is a regulatory regime that would be laughed out of town if suggested by any other major industry," he said.

"Industry should never be allowed to just write its own rules."

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Facebook, Google, Twitter release industry code to fight spread of disinformation - ABC News

Google has fired Margaret Mitchell, co-lead of the ethical AI team, after she used an automated script to look through her emails in order to find evidence of discrimination against her coworker Timnit Gebru. The news was first reported by Axios.

Mitchells firing comes one day after Google announced a reorganization to its AI teams working on ethics and fairness. Marian Croak, a vice president in the engineering organization, is now leading a new center of expertise on responsible AI within Google Research, according to a blog post.

Mitchell joined Google in 2016 as a senior research scientist, according to her LinkedIn. Two years later, she helped start the ethical AI team alongside Gebru, a renowned researcher known for her work on bias in facial recognition technology.

In December 2020, Mitchell and Gebru were working on a paper about the dangers of large language processing models when Megan Kacholia, vice president of Google Brain, asked that the article be retracted. Gebru pushed back, saying the company needed to be more open about why the research wasnt acceptable. Shortly afterwards, she was fired, though Google characterized her departure as a resignation.

After Gebrus termination, Mitchell became openly critical of Google executives, including Google AI division head Jeff Dean and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. In January, she lost her corporate email access after Google began investigating her activity.

After conducting a review of this managers conduct, we confirmed that there were multiple violations of our code of conduct, as well as of our security policies, which included the exfiltration of confidential business-sensitive documents and private data of other employees, Google said in a statement to Axios about Mitchells firing.

On Friday, Google announced it was making changes to its research and diversity policies, following an investigation into Gebrus termination. In an internal email, Jeff Dean apologized to staff for how Gebrus departure was handled. I heard and acknowledge what Dr. Gebrus exit signified to female technologists, to those in the Black community and other underrepresented groups who are pursuing careers in tech, and to many who care deeply about Googles responsible use of AI. It led some to question their place here, which I regret, he said.

The ethical AI team has been in crisis since Gebrus firing in December. After the reorganization announcement yesterday, senior researcher Alex Hanna wrote that the team was not aware of Croaks appointment until the news broke publicly Wednesday night. We were told to trust the process, trust in decision-makers like Marian Croak to look out for our best interests, she said on Twitter. But these decisions were made behind our backs.

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Google fires second AI ethics researcher following internal investigation - The Verge

Google plans to change its approach for handling how certain employees leave the company after finishing a months-long review of the abrupt and controversial departure of prominent Black artificial intelligence researcher Timnit Gebru.

Jeff Dean, Googles head of AI, announced several policy changes in an internal memo Friday, a copy of which was obtained by CNN Business. The changes include having HR employees review sensitive employee exits.

Dean also said the company will work to address diversity issues by more than doubling the staff that works on retaining Google employees. Additionally, he said Google will make diversity, equity and inclusion efforts part of the performance evaluations for Google employees at and above the vice-president level.

Axios was first to report the policy tweaks. Google declined to comment.

The memo marks the conclusion of an investigation that CEO Sundar Pichai announced to Google employees soon after Gebru left the company in December.

Until early December, when she abruptly left the company, Gebru was the co-leader of Googles Ethical AI team. A pioneer in the research of bias and inequality in AI, she was also one of few Black employees at the company overall (3.7% of Google employees are Black, according to the companys 2020 annual diversity report). The research scientist is also co-founder of the group Black in AI, which aims to increase representation of Black people in the field.

Gebru initially tweeted that she had been immediately fired for an email she had recently sent to Googles Brain Women and Allies internal mailing list. In the email she expressed dismay over the ongoing lack of diversity at the company and frustration over an internal process related to the review of a not-yet published research paper she coauthored. Dean wrote in an email to Google Research employees (which he also posted publicly) that the paper in question was not submitted for internal review far enough in advance of its deadline, and that it didnt meet our bar for publication.

In later tweets, Gebru clarified that no one at Google explicitly told her that she was fired. Rather, she said Google would not meet a number of her conditions for returning and accepted her resignation immediately because it felt that her email reflected behavior that is inconsistent with the expectations of a Google manager.

Gebrus sudden exit sparked anger among many Google employees and others in the tech industry that continues to simmer months later, often exhibited via emotional posts on Twitter. This year, two Google employees quit over Gebrus exit. Margaret Mitchell, a Google researcher who until Gebrus abrupt departure co-led the group with her, was put on administrative leave in January, as she confirmed to CNN Business at the time.

In the memo on Friday, Dean said of Gebrus contentious exit that the company could have and should have handled this situation with more sensitivity and that he regrets that it led to some employees questioning whether they belong at Google.

Its important that the Research org, along with the rest of Google, is a place where everyone feels like they belong and has the opportunity to succeed, he wrote. He also said Google will clarify internally what its process is for publishing sensitive research going forward.

Gebru responded to the memo on Friday by tweeting, I write an email asking for things, I get fired, and then after a 3 month investigation, they say they should probably do some of the things I presumably got fired asking for, without holding anyone accountable for their actions.

A Google employee familiar with the situation who requested anonymity due to privacy concerns called Deans note a non-apology and said it sounds vague and hand-wavey.

I have no faith in it, the employee said.

The memo came a day after Google announced it shuffled the leadership of its responsible artificial intelligence efforts. Marian Croak, a Black woman who has been a vice president at the company for six years working on a range of projects including getting public Wi-Fi on railroads in India, will run a new center focused on responsible AI within Google Research.

Croak will report to Dean. Ten teams centered around AI ethics, fairness, and accessibility including the Ethical AI team will report to her.

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Google rethinks how it handles 'sensitive' employee exits after controversy over AI researcher's departure | NewsChannel 3-12 - KEYT

Montreal-based publisher Joseph John wanted his comic book "Citizen Canada" to reflect the country's diverse history by having the titular hero speak English, French and Cree.

But when he started entering the Indigenous superhero's dialogue into Google Translate he found that Cree, the most common First Nations language in Canada, is not an option on the app.

John then took it upon himself to create an online petition urging Google to make Cree available on its translation app. A user-experience designer by trade, the publisher said he wants to help preserve the Indigenous language.

"I'm not an activist, I'm just a ... designer," said John. "Making comics has always been my passion (but) I want my comic to be especially helpful to Indigenous people, I want to help First Nations peoples."

The preamble to John's petition points out that Maori, the language of Aboriginal people in New Zealand, is available on Google Translate. New Zealand government data suggests there are approximately 50,000 Maori speakers there, but data from Statistics Canada's 2016 census shows there were more than 96,000 Cree speakers in Canada when information was gathered.

Simon Bird -- the creator of Cree Simon Says, a Facebook group with more than 20,000 followers that teaches people how to speak the First Nations language -- said he would welcome the addition of his native language to Google Translate as a tool for beginner or intermediate speakers.

"Once there's a common understanding of the language between a fluent speaker and someone that doesn't know the language at all, I think that's going to be the real benefit," said Bird, who is also the director of education for Lac La Ronge Indian Band in Saskatchewan.

Cree, part of the Algonquin language family, has nine dialects that are spoken in a vast geographic region that stretches from Labrador to Alberta and the Northwest Territories, according to figures from the territorial government.

Bird said although there are certain modern words that differ between the various Cree dialects, the heart of the language is the same across Canada.

Molly Morgan, a spokeswoman for Google, said that Cree is among the many Indigenous languages included in the company's Noto font project but added incorporating it into the Translate app is a more complicated process.

"We're gradually adding languages over time but our system needs lots of examples to learn from," said Morgan. "Unfortunately we don't have a timeline for that specific language. The process of adding a language to Translate takes a big concerted effort from contributors."

John, who emigrated from Bangalore, India, in 2007, said he hopes that his comic will help his fellow immigrants better understand First Nations people. He hopes that "Citizen Canada' will help them understand the difference between First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples.

"I don't want people to think of Indigenous people as tragic or victims or any of that, I want them to think of them as superheroes," said John.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2021.

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Online petition asks for Cree language to be added to Google Translate - CTV News

In the United States, Virginia has enabled app-less Covid-19 exposure notification services for iPhone users, joining California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. This means iPhone users in those US states will not need to install exposure notification apps and can instead turn on notifications in the phones settings.

The services use the coronavirus exposure notification system built jointly by Apple and Google for their smartphone operating systems, iOS and Android, which the companies updated to work without apps. The system uses the ubiquitous Bluetooth short-range wireless communication technology.

As of January, 20 US states and the District of Columbia were using the system for exposure notification apps and app-less services. All of the apps and services are voluntary; however, the island of Maui in Hawaii now requires visitors to use one.

Dozens of apps are being used around the world that alert people if they have been exposed to a person who has tested positive for Covid-19. Many of them also report the identities of the exposed people to public health authorities, which has raised privacy concerns.

Several other exposure notification projects, including PACT, BlueTrace and the Covid Watch project, take a similar privacy-protecting approach to Apples and Googles initiative.

Recently, a study found that contact tracing can be effective in containing diseases such as Covid-19 if large parts of the population participate. Exposure notification schemes like the Apple-Google system are not true contact tracing systems because they do not allow public health authorities to identify people who have been exposed to infected individuals. But digital exposure notification systems have a big advantage: They can be used by millions of people and rapidly warn those who have been exposed to quarantine themselves.

So how does the Apple-Google exposure notification system work? As researchers who study security and privacy of wireless communication, we have examined the systems specifications and have assessed its effectiveness and privacy implications.

Because Bluetooth is supported on billions of devices, it seems like an obvious choice of technology for these systems. The protocol used for this is Bluetooth Low Energy, or Bluetooth LE for short. This variant is optimised for energy-efficient communication between small devices, which makes it a popular protocol for smartphones and wearables such as smartwatches.

Bluetooth LE communicates in two main ways. Two devices can communicate over the data channel with each other, such as a smartwatch synchronizing with a phone. Devices can also broadcast useful information to nearby devices over the advertising channel. For example, some devices regularly announce their presence to facilitate automatic connection.

To build an exposure notification app using Bluetooth LE, developers could assign everyone a permanent ID and make every phone broadcast it on an advertising channel. Then, they could build an app that receives the IDs so every phone would be able to keep a record of close encounters with other phones. But that would be a clear violation of privacy. Broadcasting any personally identifiable information via Bluetooth LE is a bad idea, because messages can be read by anyone in range.

To get around this problem, every phone broadcasts a long random number, which is changed frequently. Other devices receive these numbers and store them if they were sent from close proximity. By using long, unique, random numbers, no personal information is sent via Bluetooth LE.

Apple and Google follow this principle in their specification but add some cryptography. First, every phone generates a unique tracing key that is kept confidentially on the phone. Every day, the tracing key generates a new daily tracing key.

Though the tracing key could be used to identify the phone, the daily tracing key cannot be used to figure out the phones permanent tracing key. Then, every 10 minuted to 20 minutes, the daily tracing key generates a new rolling proximity identifier, which looks just like a long random number. This is what gets broadcast to other devices via the Bluetooth advertising channel.

Someone testing positive for Covid-19 can disclose a list of their daily tracing keys, usually from the previous 14 days. Everyone elses phones use the disclosed keys to recreate the infected persons rolling proximity identifiers.

The phones then compare the Covid-19-positive identifiers with their own records of the identifiers they received from nearby phones. A match reveals a potential exposure to the virus, but it does not identify the patient.

Most of the competing proposals use a similar approach. The principal difference is that Apples and Googles operating system updates reach far more phones automatically than a single app can. Additionally, by proposing a cross-platform standard, Apple and Google allow existing apps to piggyback and use a common, compatible communication approach that could work across many apps.

The Apple-Google exposure notification system is very secure, but it is no guarantee of either accuracy or privacy. The system can produce a large number of false positives because being within Bluetooth range of an infected person does not necessarily mean the virus has been transmitted.

And even if an app records only very strong signals as a proxy for close contact, it cannot know whether there was a wall, a window or a floor between the phones.

However unlikely, there are ways governments or hackers could track or identify people using the system. Bluetooth LE devices use an advertising address when broadcasting on an advertising channel.

Though these addresses can be randomised to protect the identity of the sender, we demonstrated last year that it is theoretically possible to track devices for extended periods of time if the advertising message and advertising address are not changed in sync. To Apples and Googles credit, they call for these to be changed synchronously.

But even if the advertising address and a coronavirus apps rolling identifier are changed in sync, it may still be possible to track someones phone. If there is not a sufficiently large number of other devices nearby that also change their advertising addresses and rolling identifiers in sync a process known as mixing someone could still track individual devices. For example, if there is a single phone in a room, someone could keep track of it because its the only phone that could be broadcasting the random identifiers.

Another potential attack involves logging additional information along with the rolling identifiers. Even though the protocol does not send personal information or location data, receiving apps could record when and where they received keys from other phones.

If this were done on a large scale such as an app that systematically collects this extra information it could be used to identify and track individuals. For example, if a supermarket recorded the exact date and time of incoming rolling proximity identifiers at its checkout lanes and combined that data with credit card swipes, store staff would have a reasonable chance of identifying which customers were Covid-19 positive.

And because Bluetooth LE advertising beacons use plain-text messages, it is possible to send faked messages. This could be used to troll others by repeating known Covid-19-positive rolling proximity identifiers to many people, resulting in deliberate false positives.

Nevertheless, the Apple-Google system could be the key to alerting thousands of people who have been exposed to the coronavirus while protecting their identities, unlike contact tracing apps that report identifying information to central government or corporate databases.

Johannes Becker is a Doctoral student in Electrical & Computer Engineering and David Starobinski is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Boston University.

This article first appeared on The Conversation.

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In the US, Apple and Google have developed a Covid-19 contact tracing system that respects privacy - Scroll.in

Google will evaluate the performance of its executives on team diversity and inclusion starting this year as one of several responses to concerns about its treatment of a Black scientist

Alphabet Inc's Google will evaluate the performance of its vice presidents and above on team diversity and inclusion starting this year, the company said on Friday in one of several responses to concerns about its treatment of a Black scientist.

Timnit Gebru, co-leader of Google's ethical artificial intelligence research team, said in December that Google abruptly fired her after she criticized its diversity efforts and threatened to resign.

Alphabet and Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai ordered a review of the situation. While Google declined to share specific findings, the company announced on Friday it will engage human resources specialists during sensitive employee departures.

Pichai in June said that by 2025, Google aims to have 30% more of its leaders come from underrepresented groups, with a focus on Black, Latinx and Native American leaders in the United States and female technical leaders globally. About 96% of Google's U.S. leaders at the time were white or Asian, and 73% globally were men.

As a result of the investigation, the company also expanded a commitment announced in June to devote more resources to retaining and promoting existing employees, including by expanding a team addressing disputes among workers and their managers.

The diversity component of executive performance reviews was not previously announced, and the company did not immediately share details about what would be measured and how pay would be affected.

Alphabet for years had rejected proposals from shareholders and employees to set diversity goals and tie executive pay to them.

Irene Knapp, a former Google employee who advocated for one such proposal at a 2018 shareholder meeting, said on Friday, "I am pleased that they met our demand from 2018, which was a bare minimum that should have been easy to do immediately."

Evaluating managers on diversity goals is becoming more commonplace. McDonald's Corp on Thursday tied executive bonuses to diversity.

Also read: Google sacks AI manager who protested her colleagues departure

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Google to evaluate performance of executives on team diversity, inclusion - Business Today

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speaks during a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 22, 2020.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

Google struck a deal with the Murdoch family owned media conglomerate News Corp. as proposed legislation in Australia threatens to jeopardize the tech platform's future operations in the country.

Under the three-year deal announced Wednesday, News Corp. brands in the U.S., U.K. and Australia like The Wall Street Journal and New York Post will be featured in the Google News Showcase. The companies will enter into an ad revenue-sharing agreement, develop a subscription platform and YouTube will invest in video journalism as part of the deal, according to a press release.

News Corp.'s stock popped on the news before settling later.

Google and News Corp. are unlikely bedfellows as the media giant has been a longtime critic of Google's. News Corp. has pushed for regulators around the world to break up the company and scolded it for allegedly ripping off publishers.

But Google now finds itself in a precarious position in Australia, where complaints by News Corp. and others have helped fuel a push to take some of the strongest measures in the world against the tech platforms. With the new legislation, the Australian government seeks to require online platforms like Google and Facebook to pay news outlets for displaying and linking to their content.

Google and Facebook have pushed back strongly against the proposal. Google threatened to pull its service from the country if enacted. Facebook said it would be forced to block users in Australia from sharing news content. Australian officials backing the legislation have largely dismissed the most drastic threats. Microsoft, which has its own search engine, recently said it supported the legislation and would be willing to live by the rules if deemed subject to them.

"Today's agreement with News Corp covers a wide range of our products such as News Showcase, YouTube, Web Stories, Audio and our ad technology," Don Harrison, president of global partnerships at Google, said in a statement. "News Showcase now has partnerships with over 500 publications around the world, demonstrating the value this product can bring to our news partners and readers everywhere. We hope to announce even more partnerships soon."

News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson praised Google in a statement for a "thoughtful commitment to journalism," and said he is "gratified that the terms of trade are changing, not just for News Corp, but for every publisher."

He thanked the head of the Australian competition regulator as well as the country's prime minister and treasurer for standing "firm for their country and for journalism."

"For many years, we were accused of tilting at tech windmills," Thomson said, "but what was a solitary campaign, a quixotic quest, has become a movement, and both journalism and society will be enhanced."

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Google will pay News Corp for the right to showcase its news articles - CNBC

Google is reorganizing its responsible AI teams in the wake of Timnit Gebrus firing. The ethical AI team will now roll up to Marian Croak, a prominent Black executive in the engineering department. Croak will also oversee employees focused on engineering fairness products, according to Bloomberg. She will report to Jeff Dean, who leads the companys AI efforts.

The ethical AI team was not aware of the reorganization until news broke Wednesday night.

In a blog post confirming Croaks appointment, Google said the executive will be leading a new center of expertise on responsible AI within Google Research.

The change is an attempt to stabilize the department, which has been in turmoil for months, Bloomberg reports. In December, Timnit Gebru, co-lead of the ethical AI team, announced shed been abruptly fired. The following month, the company began investigating her counterpart Margaret Mitchell, who had been using a script to go through her emails to look for examples of discrimination against Gebru. Mitchell now says shes been locked out of her corporate accounts for more than five weeks.

Prior to her dismissal, Gebru had been trying to publish a paper on the dangers of large language processing models. Megan Kacholia, vice president of Google Research, asked her to retract the paper. Gebru pushed back, saying the company needed to be more transparent about the publication process. Shortly afterward, she was fired.

The ethical AI team published a six-page letter in the wake of Gebrus termination, calling on Kacholia to be replaced. We have lost confidence in Megan Kacholia and we call for her to be removed from our reporting chain, the letter read.

Now, the team may be getting its wish. As part of the reorganization, Kacholia will no longer lead the ethical AI researchers, according to Bloomberg. Its not clear what this means for Margaret Mitchell, who is still being investigated by the company.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge.

Update February 18th, 1:38PM EST: This article has been updated to include a blog post from Google.

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Google is restructuring its AI teams after Timnit Gebrus firing - The Verge