Google Walkout

Google has chosen to dismantle its AI ethics work, making it clear that the company will only tolerate research that supports its bottom line. This is a matter of urgent public concern. We stand in solidarity with Dr. Margaret Mitchell, a world-leading AI researcher who until recently led the most…

Four of our colleagues took a stand and organized for a better workplace. This is explicitly condoned in Google’s Code of Conduct, which ends: “​​​​​​​And remember… don’t be evil, and if you see something that you think isn’t right — speak up.” When they did, Google retaliated against them. Today…

#GoogleWalkout went viral, trending around the world and still being covered by international media one year later. On the day of the walkout, we reached 3.2 million impressions just on @GoogleWalkout’s tweets alone. In the year since, workplace organizing in tech has seen incredible growth. We’ve been so inspired by additional actions at other companies, and often get asked for a list of best practices in this space.

A year ago today, at 11:10am local time, more than 20,000 Google workers walked out around the world, starting in Tokyo and Singapore and moving West. We were protesting misogyny, racism, unethical decision making, and systemic inequity. Since then, a movement has grown, at Google and across tech. While worker…

In April, two of the organizers of the Google Walkout, Meredith Whittaker and Claire Stapleton, came forward with the stories of the retaliation they’ve faced as a result of speaking out at the company. Claire left Google in June—yesterday was Meredith’s last day. Here’s the note she shared internally: July…

Dear Microsoft, people aren’t that stupid anymore At one point, this was going to be a series. Then a million things happened. (Well, globally, probably trillions of things happened). It was motivated by Microsoft’s ridiculous claim to desire some kind of global A.I. Ethics commission, like at the U.N. …

The Walkout was a turning point: a moment where Googlers called on the company to do right by its people. We issued a clear, articulate, and actionable set of demands. Google has had six months to meet these demands: in that time, they’ve partially met only one of them. …

Sharing stories from Google employees. — Over the last few days, we’ve been helping unmask Google’s culture of retaliation. Here are just a handful of the chilling stories which have been shared with us. Ethics & Compliance aren’t always so ethical When I reported something unethical happening at Google, Employee Relations fudged data to protect Google. Eventually, Ethics & Compliance sent my HRBP…

Google terminated the contracts of 34 writers responsible for the voice of the Google Assistant. We’re asking for respect. We’re asking for our contracts to be upheld. — A Google worker holding up a sign at the Google walkout in 2018 that reads “Not Ok Google". As of April 2, 2019, over 928 people and counting have signed this letter internally at Google. Most are full time employees. This is an historic show of support. …