--- description: Google is scrapping an outside council set up to evaluate its artificial intelligence efforts after a dramatic outcry about the panel title: Google Scraps New AI Ethics Council Amid Criticism image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf248300f9ac7555c/698947de656a3f3ffebd6e6c/gettyimages-79493992.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Google](/tag/google/) ## Google Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Google Scraps New AI Ethics Council Amid Criticism by [Mark Bergen / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Mark Bergen / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 5, 2019 4:17 AM CUT  LONDON - FEBRUARY 03: In this photo illustration the Google logo is reflected in the eye of a girl on February 3, 2008 in London, England. Financial experts continue to evaluate the recent Microsoft $44.6 billion (?22.4 billion) offer for Yahoo and the possible impact on Internet market currently dominated by Google. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) LONDON - FEBRUARY 03: In this photo illustration the Google logo is reflected in the eye of a girl on February 3, 2008 in London, England. Financial experts continue to evaluate the recent Microsoft $44.6 billion (?22.4 billion) offer for Yahoo and the possible impact on Internet market currently dominated by Google. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)Chris Jackson—Getty Images by [Mark Bergen / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Mark Bergen / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 5, 2019 4:17 AM CUT Google is scrapping an outside council set up to evaluate its artificial intelligence efforts after a dramatic outcry about the makeup of the panel. The Alphabet Inc. company introduced the group, called the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC), on March 26\. Google asked the eight members to advise the company on knotty ethical questions on products such as facial-recognition software and algorithmic bias. Within a week, one person declined the invitation and another became the target of a pointed petition from Google staff as well as criticism from outside advocates. “It’s become clear that in the current environment, ATEAC can’t function as we wanted,” Google said Thursday in a statement. “So we’re ending the council and going back to the drawing board. We’ll continue to be responsible in our work on the important issues that AI raises, and will find different ways of getting outside opinions on these topics.” Vox earlier reported Google’s decision to disband the council. The outside council was intended to help the tech giant implement its own AI ethical principles, guidelines that were put in place last year after an employee rebellion forced Google to retreat from a military cloud-computing contract. Hundreds of employees signed a petition circulating last week to remove Kay Coles James, president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, citing concerns about her positions on gay and transgender people. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5564830/google-ai-ethics-council-scrapped/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5564830/google-ai-ethics-council-scrapped/"},"headline":"Google Scraps New AI Ethics Council Amid Criticism","datePublished":"2019-04-05T04:17:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:13:54.448Z","description":"A petition urged Google to remove a conservative think tank president from the panel over her positions on gay and transgender people","url":"https://time.com/5564830/google-ai-ethics-council-scrapped/","keywords":["Google","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf248300f9ac7555c/698947de656a3f3ffebd6e6c/gettyimages-79493992.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Bergen / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf248300f9ac7555c/698947de656a3f3ffebd6e6c/gettyimages-79493992.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"google-craps-AI-council.jpg","caption":"Google Scraps AI Ethics Council","creditText":"Chris Jackson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/google/","name":"Google"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5564830/google-ai-ethics-council-scrapped/","name":"Google Scraps New AI Ethics Council Amid Criticism"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Google's First AI-Powered Doodle Lets You Harmonize Like Johann Sebastian Bach","description":"Now you can harmonize like Johann Sebastian Bach thanks to Google's first ever AI-driven Doodle","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/DUUux4u9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-03-21T14:34:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DUUux4u9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5564830/google-ai-ethics-council-scrapped/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5564830/google-ai-ethics-council-scrapped/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```