AI researcher Timnit Gebru, who left Google last year, launches Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research, an institute focused on the responsible use of AI

The researcher, who says Google fired her a year ago, wants to ask questions about responsible use of artificial intelligence.

Wired 2021-12-03 Tom Simonite

Context & Ripple Effects

Gebru's institute follows her disputed departure from Google and the subsequent unraveling of Google's Ethical AI team. DAIR gives her responsible-AI work an organizational home outside the company where that conflict occurred.

The launch also establishes a destination for researchers leaving Google's unit: related coverage later records two Ethical AI employees joining DAIR, turning an individual departure into a competing research center.

First-order effects

Timnit Gebru gains an independent institute, DAIR, through which to set a responsible-AI research agenda outside Google.
DAIR becomes a new employer and institutional base for AI researchers focused on the social consequences of AI systems.

Second-order effects

Google's Ethical AI group faces a sharper retention challenge as DAIR offers departing researchers a mission-aligned alternative, reflected in the later move of two employees to the institute.
Responsible-AI debates previously concentrated inside a major platform company gain an external research organization able to pursue its own priorities.

Third-order effects

If researchers continue building independent institutions after conflicts with corporate AI labs, responsible-AI research may become less dependent on the companies deploying the technology.
The episode points toward AI governance being shaped by a mix of corporate teams and external research organizations rather than internal ethics groups alone.

The trend: Responsible-AI research is becoming more institutionally independent as researchers create organizations outside major AI companies.

Discussion

@nitashatiku Nitasha Tiku on x
I talked to @timnitGebru about her new AI research institute, launched on the one year anniversary of being fired from Google. DAIR offers a competing vision for AI research from the broken incentives inside Big Tech https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@triketora Tracy Chou on x
inspired by people who can take a shitty unfair situation as an opportunity to make systemic corrections. rooting for you @timnitGebru https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
“Gebru also wants to focus on making sure research is shared with and understood by affected communities, rather than moving on to the next research topic.” That's an ambitious goal that is too often missing from prestige academic research, let alone Big Tech https://twitter.com/…
@macfound @macfound on x
A new push to ask questions about responsible use of artificial intelligence. Congratulations on today's launch of the @DAIRInstitute by @timnitGebru! 🥳 https://www.wired.com/... via @WIRED https://twitter.com/...
@timnitgebru Timnit Gebru on x
Thank you Darren & to the @FordFoundation for your support. https://twitter.com/...
@darrenwalker Darren Walker on x
.@FordFoundation is proud to support @timnitGebru's effort to create a global, independent space for #AI research. The Distributed AI Research institute offers an inclusive & collaborative approach to creating AI systems that are equitable from the start. https://www.wired.com/..…
@eff @eff on x
Congratulations to Pioneer Award winner @timnitGebru in launching the @DAIRInstitute. Dr. Gebru is an inspiration to so many in AI. We look forward to working alongside you in the fight against tech that exacerbates racism, ableism, and gender bias. https://www.washingtonpost.com…
@krotondo Kate Rotondo on x
Gebru has lined up funding from the Ford, MacArthur, Kapor Center, Rockefeller and Open Society foundations for the center — called DAIR , or Distributed AI Research — and plans to hire five researchers over the next year. https://twitter.com/...
@mclemoremr @mclemoremr on x
Yass: “AI is not inevitable, its harms are preventable, and when its production and deployment include diverse perspectives and deliberate processes, it can be beneficial,” reads DAIR's vision statement. Gebru will serve as the group's executive director." Nice work @timnitGebru …
@lilsg31 Lili Gangas on x
“Community, not exploitation; Healthy, thriving researchers; Comprehensive, principled processes; Proactive, pragmatic research”-values of newly launched @DAIRInstitute by @timnitGebru tackling #algorithmicbias & harms! 👏🏽@KaporCenter is a founding funder! https://www.wired.com/.…
@kaporcenter @kaporcenter on x
We are thrilled to support & collab w/ @TimnitGebru & @DAIRInstitute to help address #algorithmicbias & harm to ensure that the promise + potential of #technology is used to create a more equitable future! #AI #tech #racialjustice #KaporCSJustice https://www.wired.com/...
@judicaelle_ Judicaelle Irakoze on x
When what was meant to destroy you,instead radicalized you and channeled actions filled with hope Congrats @timnitGebru https://twitter.com/...
@a_bacci Anna Bacciarelli on x
The best news: @timnitGebru will lead a new AI research institute, @DAIRInstitute, that will create tech that truly serves vulnerable and marginalised communities and call out tech-driven inequity. Thrilled that @OpenSociety can support this vital work. https://www.wired.com/...
@fordfoundation @fordfoundation on x
Proud to support @timnitGebru and public interest technologists everywhere doing the critical work to ensure #tech works for us all. @DAIRinstitute is a giant step towards equitable #AI that prioritizes the voices of communities most impacted by tech. https://www.wired.com/...
@shaft Leslie Miley on x
This is going to be huge and will really highlight the failings and conflicts of interest and hypocrisy that many #BigTech companies are practicing in plain sight. Thank you @timnitGebru for taking a stand! https://www.wired.com/...
@ifeomaozoma Ifeoma Ozoma on x
My friend, @timnitGebru, could have taken the last year to heal from her unjust firing from Google, but instead she immediately got to work on this new AI research institute. Proud doesn't even come close to what I and everyone else should feel for her. HUGE congrats, Timnit!!! h…
@cherthedev Cher Scarlett on x
There are words to describe the immense impact @timnitGebru has had, and will continue to have on the world. She is a pillar of integrity, and we should all be grateful and celebrating her body of work today. Thank you for your trust and support. Honored to be a friend. https://t…
@black_in_ai Black on x
Powerful moves by our very own co-founder @timnitGebru who has decided to take control of her research agenda and launch @DAIRInstitute, an independent AI Research Center! 🎉🎊🚀📈 https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@ekp Ellen K. Pao on x
Glad to know @timnitGebru has the financial support and desire to continue her important work on ethical AI https://twitter.com/...
@katecrawford Dr. Kate Crawford on x
So wonderful to see @timnitGebru launch her new research institute today! Giant congratulations 🥳🎉 You can read more about the issues that DAIR is focusing on here: https://www.dair-institute.org/ ... and read about the context here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@csdoctorsister Dr. Brandeis Marshall on x
Yes @timnit, so glad this is out in the open 👏🏾👏🏾 👏🏾 And while DAIR has received $3M now, this should be $30M ASAP. Invest in Black women-led orgs ALREADY doing the work. (And I said this yesterday in my talk at Columbia) https://www.wired.com/...
@divinetechygirl @divinetechygirl on x
When folks/big orgs try to keep you down but you FLOURISH ANYWAY. Congrats! @timnitGebru https://www.wired.com/... via @wired
@c2i2_ucla @c2i2_ucla on x
Get it, @timnitGebru @DAIRInstitute 🔥 Ex-Googler Timnit Gebru Starts Her Own AI Research Center | via @WIRED 👏 🔗 Read: https://www.wired.com/...
@combsthepoet Tawana Petty on x
🧵This is a pivotal moment for #tech and its role in our society. We need global, independent #AI research that values people over profit. Congrats to @timnitGebru for taking this significant step with @DAIRInstitute following the injustice she faced after speaking up at Google.
@dinabass Dina Bass on x
The two main motivations for investing in AI research are “how to make a large corporation the most amount of money possible and how do we kill more people more efficiently,” @timnitGebru said. “So can we actually have an alternative? That's what I want to see.”
@dinabass Dina Bass on x
Timnit Gebru is marking the 1 year anniversary of her dismissal from Google by announcing her new AI research institute — a global non-profit meant to examine AI harms and center communities impacted by them. We spoke with @timnitGebru about DAIR: https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@mer__edith Meredith Whittaker on x
Oh YES! Timnit is brilliant and real and exactly the right person to be shaping this research, and the new organizational forms to conduct it ❤️❤️ Thank you as always for your leadership, and congratulations friend! @timnitGebru https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

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