https://www.morningbrew.com/emerging-tech/stories/2021/08/04/deepminds-cofounder-placed-leave-bullying-google-promoted

 
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After DeepMind's cofounder was placed on leave for bullying, Google
promoted him

Mustafa Suleyman is now just two steps away from CEO Sundar Pichai

August 4, 2021
Brew writer Hayden FieldBrew writer Hayden Field
 

Hayden Field

Emerging Tech Reporter

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John Phillips / Getty Images

Last week, DeepMind--the AI research lab and Google subsidiary--made
headlines for a biotech breakthrough. This week, it's making
headlines for a very different reason. 

Mustafa Suleyman, DeepMind's cofounder and an influential figure in
AI, was placed on leave in July 2019 after employees reported his
misconduct. Recently, it has come to light that these years of
complaints tended to follow a similar thread, Insider reports:
bullying and public humiliation. At least two incidents reportedly
led to confidential settlements in excess of $150,000 each. 

  * "He used to say, 'I crush people,"' one former DeepMind employee
    told Insider. 

It didn't end there: In December 2019, after his return from leave,
Google awarded Suleyman a promotion to VP of AI policy, putting just
two layers between him and CEO Sundar Pichai. He also landed a seat
on Google's Advanced Technology Review Council (ATRC), which
Bloomberg has called the Google AI ethics board "with actual power." 

Big picture: Google's reported willingness to put up with Suleyman's
behavior stands in stark contrast to its swift termination of Timnit
Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, former co-leads of its AI ethics team
who produced research that challenged the company's direction on
large language models.--HF 

   
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