Prominent artificial intelligence (AI) scholar Timnit Gebru helped improve Google's public image as a company that put on a pedestal Black computer scientists and questions harmful uses of artificial intelligence technology.

Timnit Gebru, a leader in the field of AI ethics internally, was not shy about voicing doubts about those commitments - until she was pushed out of the company this week in a dispute over a research paper examining the societal dangers of an emerging branch of artificial intelligence.

Gebru announced on Twitter she was fired. Google told employees she resigned. Over 1,200 Google employees have inked an open letter calling the incident 'unprecedented research censorship' and faulting the company for racism and defensiveness.

The outcry over Gebru's abrupt departure is the latest incident raising questions about whether Google has strayed so far away from its original “Don't Be Evil” motto that the company now routinely ousts employees who dare to challenge management.

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