How Big Tech silences dissent: Timnit Gebru’s insider account

Google hired computer scientist Timnit Gebru to sniff out bias and
other unethical practices in the company’s sprawling artificial
intelligence work. After she drafted a paper that did just that,
she says, the company moved to fire her. In this episode of Art of
Power, Gebru walks host Aarti Shahani through the twists and turns
of life that led her to Silicon Valley. A refugee from Ethiopia,
she migrated to Massachusetts as a teen, and then headed to
Stanford University (though her college guidance counselor didn’t
think she was Stanford material). Gebru became a different kind of
tech unicorn – a woman and an under-represented minority in the
industry. Her departure from Google is one of the most high-profile
exits that Big Tech has ever seen. She reflects on what her
personal story means for a larger public that’s grappling with the
unchecked power of a handful of companies. She also explains how
she’s working to light little fires everywhere.