Responsible AI researchers now report up through a single executive, Marian Croak, ending the fragmented team structure that existed when Gebru's departure blew up — oversight authority shifts from the research teams to management.
The researchers who had been publicly clashing with Google leadership lose their semi-autonomous perch; dissent now routes through one chain of command.
Second-order effects
The centralized structure becomes Google's default response to ethics-team crises — the same playbook resurfaces with the Responsible Innovation split in 2024, suggesting each departure now triggers an org-chart answer rather than a policy one.
Rival labs face the mirror-image question: whether to keep independent ethics research groups or follow Google toward executive-controlled review, as scrutiny of how AI ethics is governed intensifies.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, AI ethics inside major labs migrates from independent research units to centralized executive functions — review becomes a compliance-style gate inside the org chart rather than a research voice with standing to publish against the company's interests.
The trend: Major AI labs are absorbing ethics oversight into centralized executive structures, trading independent research voices for managerial control.
It turns out the Ethical AI team was the last to know about a massive reorganization, which was prompted by our advocacy. This was not communicated with us at all, despite promises that it would be. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
...And this is how I find out. I'm so glad for all the trust they've rebuilt. It seems I've been completely erased and my team taken. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Scoop: Google to reorganize its responsible AI teams under Marian Croak, a prominent Black executive, after months of chaos stemming from the departure of @timnitGebru. Story with the great @dinabass https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Exec drafted to oversee “responsible AI” at Google in the wake of the Timnit Gebru scandal says she wants to “galvanize the unique talent we have...and consolidate them in a way that there's synergistic unification of their talents.” https://blog.google/...
I will have a lot more to say about this later. But announcing a new org by a Black woman as if we're all interchangeable while harassing, terrorizing and gaslighting my team and doing absolutely ZERO to acknowledge & redress the harm that's been done is beyond gaslighting. https…
They've been working on this trust for a long time it seems. Mind you Meg is still locked out. Our team is working on their performance reviews under this condition, after being terrorized and harassed, their lead locked out and now re-org. And the face of it is a Black woman. ht…
She is also planning “a critical assessment of all the AI systems that are deployed and currently being designed...to mitigate...potential harms that exist.” Which seems like something a company serious about responsible AI would have started already https://twitter.com/...
Funny how this gets dropped late the night before it's supposedly going to be announced. Folks on the teams can't comment usefully because they haven't been told. But it's right before the announcement so by the time they can it's old news. Conclusion: source is likely Google PR …
Is anyone falling for the timing? While terrorizing and harassing the Ethical AI team, announce a re-org of Responsible AI with a Black woman on top? My biggest disappointment is with Marian Croak legitimizing this. Starting with hosting Megan & Jeff's gaslighting session. https:…
You see they fired your prior manager and said something about expectations of her “as a manager” and then locked out your other manager. What we were doing to create a safe space for you was very unbecoming of a Google manager. This is the norm. Also don't forget diplomacy https…
When are tech leaders gonna learn that we're NOT making widgets anymore...this is a knowledge economy, which REQUIRES the strategic ability to share & scale organizational knowledge, which REQUIRES the fostering a culture of welcoming, collaboration & psychological safety https:/…
Thats how much they “care” about this team. Fire a co-lead, gaslight & enable harassers to her & team, lockout co-lead, & sure you can just replace one Black woman with another and prove to the world you care about both Black women & responsible AI. Kill 2 birds with one stone ht…
You know I'm starting to think that this was probably what they had in mind from day 1. Starting with the gaslighting session of Black Googlers by Megan & Jeff hosted by Marian Croak. I wouldn't be surprised if Kent Walker was involved in this strategy too. 1/2 https://twitter.co…
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. https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...