On Thursday, Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini, exhibited unusual behavior, prompting numerous users to flock to Twitter, also known as X, to share the inaccuracies in the images generated by the chatbot. Consequently, Google has temporarily halted image generation on Gemini. While Gemini’s mishap became a source of amusement for its competitors, Google terminated one of the employees responsible for the Gemini AI via text message. The disgruntled employee then took to social media to share his distressing experience.
Google employee Alex Cohen recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his abrupt termination from the tech giant. Cohen, who was involved in developing algorithms for the Gemini AI model, revealed the unexpected manner in which he was asked to leave the company.
In his tweet, Cohen expressed his disappointment, stating, Sad to share that I was laid off from Google today. I was in charge of making the algorithms for Gemini as woke as possible. He recounted the sudden loss of access to Hangouts and Google Drive, followed by a text from his manager informing him of his termination. Cohen elaborated, After complaints on Twitter surfaced today, I suddenly lost access to Hangouts and Google Drive, and my manager (he/him), texted me to let me know that I was fired.
Despite the abrupt end to his tenure, Cohen mentioned receiving a severance package equivalent to 12 months’ pay and expressed uncertainty about his next steps, mentioning a target total compensation of $2.7 million.
This incident comes in the wake of revelations by Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas, who disclosed that Google once offered a staggering 300% salary increase to an employee uninvolved with its AI division. The offer raises questions about Google’s compensation practices and priorities within different teams.
Meanwhile, Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently addressed the possibility of further job cuts, citing the need for difficult decisions to facilitate the company’s investment plans. In an internal memo to Google employees, Pichai emphasized the company’s ambitious goals and the necessity of creating capacity for investments. He wrote, The reality is that to create the capacity for this investment, we have to make tough choices.
Google acknowledged Gemini’s inaccuracies in historical image generation on Wednesday. Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT launched in November 2022, Google has been striving to develop AI software to compete with it. A year ago, Google introduced its generative AI chatbot, Bard, but faced criticism for sharing inaccurate information about images of a planet beyond the Earth’s solar system in a promotional video. This caused Google’s shares to drop by as much as 9 per cent.
