Google Gemini: AI fiasco reignites concerns of political bias at tech company dating back to Trump's victory

Posted 60 days ago

From WWW.FOXBUSINESS.COM

The controversy surrounding the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Gemini is reigniting concerns about political bias at Google, a company that has repeatedly been accused of favoring Democrats and fostering a culture of progressive workers.

Bias in the tech world has been an issue for years, and it came to a head in 2017 when a male Google software engineer released a 10-page document titled "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber." In the manifesto that liberal media members crucified at the time as an anti-diversity screed, he claimed that the company had a "left bias" and "microaggression training" had incorrectly equated "speech with violence."

Then-Vice President for Diversity, Integrity, and Governance at Google, Danielle Brown, said that changing a culture is often "hard and uncomfortable" but stressed she believed Google was doing the right thing. She also claimed the letter's viewpoint "advanced incorrect assumptions about gender."

The letter came as Google faced a class-action lawsuit and a wage discrimination investigation by the Department of Labor, which alleged that the company often paid women less than men.

Google conducted its own study in 2019 and found that it was actually paying some men in level 4 software engineering roles less than women for doing similar work.

In 2018, a slew of internal meetings from Google were acquired by the media.

One of the videos showed an employee asking those in attendance to examine their "White privilege" and urged workers to go through "bias-busting training." The crowd, including senior management, applauded the man as he concluded his speech.

Another clip showed "White Like Me: Race, Racism and White Privilege in America" author Tim Wise addressing employees during a DEI workplace training. Wise declared that "White anxiety" is a "public health crisis." He also warned that it is not just the opioid crisis that is killing Americans but also "political opioids," wherein voters turn to candidates who say they will bring back jobs and take away their pain.

The company faced significant backlash after several other videos showed Google senior leaders visibly distraught about former President Trump's 2016 election victory.

During one employee panel, Google co-founder Sergey Brin began the event by saying, "OK, folks. I know this is probably not the most joyous TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) we have had. And, let's face it, most people here are pretty upset and pretty sad because of the election."

Brin would go on to say that as an immigrant and refugee, he found the 2016 election "deeply offensive."

"I know many of you do, too. And I think it's a very stressful time, and it conflicts with many of our values," he added.

Kent Walker, now the chief legal officer at Alphabet Inc. and Eileen Naughton, who has served in various senior roles at Google dating back to 2006, also voiced displeasure at Trump's win.

The comments are perhaps unsurprising, given the donations sent to politicians and organizations by those affiliated with Google.

While organizations cannot contribute to candidates and party committees, the figures below include contributions from members, employees, or owners of Google, Alphabet Inc., and those individuals' immediate family members.... (Read more)



Tweets mentioned:

https://twitter.com/MarceloPLima/status/1762841174312616417

https://twitter.com/MythinformedMKE/status/1746615040206086475

https://twitter.com/Uncommonsince76/status/1762341509699879246

https://twitter.com/MythinformedMKE/status/1744037274705100948








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