Google suspends second AI ethics researcher: Union

Google has suspended an artificial intelligence ethics researcher weeks after dismissing another member of the team, a recently formed union said.

The Alphabet Workers Union, which was created by employees of Google’s parent firm, said in a statement this week it was “concerned by the suspension of the corporate access of Margaret Mitchell,” a union member and lead researcher.

“This suspension comes on the heels of Google’s firing of former co-lead Timnit Gebru; together these are an attack on the people who are trying to make Google’s technology more ethical,” the union said in a statement.

Google faced criticism last month after Gebru was forced out, after she claimed had been ordered to retract a research paper.