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Google is set to shuffle employees who work on artificial intelligence, and put those who work in a field known as responsible AI under a single executive, according to a source familiar with the situation. Bloomberg first reported that a shuffle was planned.
The new order, which is set to be announced to employees today, will see many workers focused on responsible AI now report into Marian Croak, a vice president of engineering within Google's Research group, according to the source, who requested anonymity because they were not permitted to speak to the press. Responsible AI is the term for a field of artificial intelligence research that focuses on fairness and preventing harm to society.
The source said that some employees focused on this space, including product managers, will remain in place. A Google spokesperson did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
The shuffle comes amid turmoil within the company following the public ousting of ethics researcher Timnit Gebru. Margaret Mitchell, Gebru's former co-lead on Google's ethical AI team, also had her corporate access removed last month after she was found downloading material related to Gebru's termination.
But Mitchell's team, which specifically looks at the concepts of ethics and AI, is just one group of the many at Google working on responsible AI that will be moved under Croak. Other teams research in domain-specific areas or are charged with altering Google's products based on discoveries in ethical research.
The reshuffle will now centralize many of these efforts under Croak.
This isn't the first change Google has made to the chain of command since Gebru's exit, which has caused tension between staff and leadership. Last month, the company placed research director Zoubin Ghahramani in a new leadership position below Megan Kacholia, the engineering vice president who informed Gebru of her termination.
All of Kacholia's previous direct reports now report into Ghahramani. The move came after the ethical AI team demanded to have Kacholia removed from their reporting line, although Google insisted the move was previously planned.
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