spisHjerner t1_jegq6ra wrote on March 31, 2023 at 10:03 PM

Reply to comment by the_red_scimitar in Google announces a series of cost-cutting measures across the company as it slashes staff perks by McFatty7

LaMDA + Google Conversations was "it." They quite literally had developed the cutting edge tech already. It's really astonishing to see that Conversations team was unilaterally fired. Same with Robotics.

My only thought is that the US Government gave them an ultimatum, e.g., either you develop AGI robots for us to use as military merchants, or you shut it down. And Google chose to shut it down. This is the only way I can see this happening. (Similar to Microsoft suddenly ditching VR).

Truly a WTF moment in history.

the_red_scimitar t1_jegsena wrote on March 31, 2023 at 10:19 PM

I think it's too easy to leap to a conspiracy theory when well known facts explain things perfectly well. Every one of the major tech companies is shedding tens of thousands of jobs. This is simply a market correction. They had massively over hired, massively overextended, all on the expectation that the ludicrous growth of the last 20 years could possibly continue. All while working on the technology that would make obsolete a lot of jobs, including those within the company.

I don't think it takes conspiracy to explain that they just can't afford it anymore.

spisHjerner t1_jegtjkb wrote on March 31, 2023 at 10:28 PM

Eh, IMO it's more than hand wavy conspiracy theory claims. People who work in certain sectors are presented with paths. And Google has chosen a path. We'll see what comes of it.