28 Google employees were fired on Wednesday. The company itself confirms this to the American News Agency AP.
They said in a statement that the employees were fired for completely unacceptable behavior that resulted in other Google employees being unable to do their jobs and contributed to an atmosphere of threat. The company also does not rule out the possibility of firing more people.
The reason Google fired these employees is because they participated in the demonstrations against the Israeli war in Gaza – and Google cooperated with the Israeli authorities.
On Wednesday, police arrested nine Google employees after they refused to leave the offices where they work. This was called the “sit” sign.
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Campaigned against Google's contract with Israel
Much of the criticism directed at Google is due to the contract it signed with Israel in 2021 called Project Nimbus. The goal of the agreement was to facilitate Google's provision of cloud storage services and artificial intelligence tools to the Israeli government.
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The protests against Google are largely driven by a group calling itself No Tech for Apartheid, which believes Israel is using Google's technology in its war. Google, for its part, says the Nimbus Convention does not apply to weapons and intelligence gathering.
work group He reacts It is so strong that Google chose to fire the employees who participated in the sit-in.
“This is a clear indication that Google values its contract with Israel’s genocidal government — worth $1.2 billion — more than its employees,” the organization said.
Read also: New details reveal: This is how Israel used artificial intelligence to bomb people in Gaza
Google: – We cannot be distracted by such things
On Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in an article Blog post The company is now at a very critical stage with the entry of artificial intelligence into the technology industry, which means they do not have time for disruption.
-This is a company, not a place where you don't behave in a way that upsets your colleagues or makes them feel unsafe. You should not use the Company as a personal platform to express politics and other issues. “The stage we are in is too important to distract our company,” Pichai writes.
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Revealing Israel's use of Google
Previously, it was discussed how Israel is using Google Photos services – and the AI built into them – in its facial recognition work in Gaza. Israeli soldiers use Google's facial recognition technology to scan Palestinians at checkpoints in Gaza.
The way Israel is using facial recognition technology to monitor Palestinians — and identify future targets — has sparked a number of reactions, including from Anna Paciarelli, technology director at Human Rights Watch.
“Facial recognition surveillance used in this way undermines rights under international human rights law,” Pacciarelli said. Objection_.
Google spokesman Joshua Cruz recently told The Intercept that the company cannot be held responsible for Israel's use of its photo service.
– Google Photos is a free product and is widely available on all devices. It helps you organize photos by sorting photos by similar faces, so you can easily find old photos. Cruz told the newspaper that the service does not help identify the unknown people in the photo.
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