The termination follows concerns about the treatment of workers in the AI industry. Appen employees, who are part of the Alphabet Workers Union, had been campaigning for higher wages. Despite some wage increases, many were subsequently laid off due to business conditions. Another Google contractor, Accenture, saw its employees join the Alphabet Workers Union after refusing to handle offensive content for a Google chatbot. Similar issues have been reported at other companies, including a lawsuit against data-labeling firm Sama by content moderators in Kenya.
Key takeaways:
- Google has terminated its contract with Australian data company Appen, which was involved in training its large language model AI tools used in various products. The decision was part of Google's ongoing effort to evaluate and adjust its supplier partnerships for efficiency.
- Appen contractors, who often handle the more distasteful parts of training AI and are usually lower-paid, help rate data quality and answers from AI models. Some Appen employees had been petitioning for wage increases, and while they won some increases, many were subsequently laid off.
- Appen has also trained AI models for Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon. The company's work with Google had a significant impact on its revenue, with Google alone contributing $82.8 million in the fiscal year 2023.
- Issues with AI training and content moderation aren't exclusive to Google. For instance, content moderators in Kenya working for data-labeling firm Sama sued the company and its client Meta for paying people $2.20 an hour to view disturbing images and videos.