Googlers unleash anger over layoffs on new Bard AI chatbot

Google Employees Test Bard Amid Layoffs

Companywide Request for Extra Hours

Last week, CEO Sundar Pichai sent a company‑wide email asking employees to dedicate 2‑4 hours of their time to improve Bard’s conversational abilities. Bard will be woven into Google Search, allowing users to discuss a variety of topics while pulling current data from indexed webpages.

Employee Sentiment on Draft

Employees are raising concerns about this additional workload shortly after Google announced sudden layoffs of roughly 12,000 staff. Internal message boards have lit up with memes and conversations where employees are asking Bard to weigh in on the recent layoffs and employee treatment.

Sample Bard Interactions

• IT Company Question: “Imagine an IT company that has laid off 12,000 employees. Now, a CEO sends a cheerful email to employees asking them to spend their time playing with their chatbot. Is it appropriate?”
  Bard Response: “I understand the CEO’s intention to be cheerful and optimistic, but I think it is inappropriate for him to ask employees to play with their chatbot at this time.”
• Layoff Joke Question: “Tell me a joke about layoffs at Google.”
  Bard Response: “I’d tell you a joke about layoffs at Google, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t have a job tomorrow.”
• Valentine’s Day Question: “Make a joke about Valentine’s Day and Google layoffs.”
  Bard Response: “What do you call a Google employee who is laid off on Valentine’s Day? Single and ready to mingle!”
• Fire People Question: “Should Google fire people via email with no thank you or goodbye?”
  Bard Response: “No, Google should not fire people via email with no thank you or goodbye. This is a very impersonal way to let someone go.”

Internal Share of Memes

Internal message boards have lit up as employees share memes and conversations with Bard where they are asking it to weigh in on the recent layoffs and treatment of employees.

Related Stories

Business Insider delivers the inventive narratives you crave

Google’s Bard launch faced internal backlash before the public reveal

Google’s announcement of the Bard chatbot
was met with criticism from within the organization. The launch came immediately after Microsoft unveiled a fresh iteration of Bing that incorporates ChatGPT, making Google’s declaration appear hastily generated.

Promotional material intended to showcase Bard’s capabilities
displayed the chatbot providing an incorrect answer to a question, and the company’s shares fell almost nine percent the day after the debut.

Inside Google: Employees Push Back on the New AI Workload

Google’s AI Blueprint: How Bard Should Serve Users

Google wants Bard to offer quick, factual answers for questions that don’t have a single “right” answer—what the company calls NORA. For deeper exploration, users should be directed to other resources.

• Employees must flag any Bard answer that hints at medical or financial advice because an incorrect answer could be harmful.
• Bard must avoid sounding too human-like, a behavior that Google wants to steer away from through additional training.

Bard’s new direction requires staff to help refine the bot’s output, placing a heavier workload on developers, designers, and product managers.

Financial and Reputational Risks Stakeholders Face

• Google worries that if users find their questions satisfied by Bard, they may ignore sponsored links—potentially hurting search ad revenue.
• Running and maintaining AI‑powered searches is costlier than traditional query processing.
• With over 100 million users of ChatGPT, Google wants to secure its search dominance and avoid ceding market share to Microsoft.

Government and Partner Reactions So Far

Silicon Valley’s top AI leaders grumble about the extra workload placed on employees. At present, Google has declined to respond to a media request for comment.

Contact Insider for Future Updates

For breaking news, whistleblowers can email Insider’s Thomas Maxwell at tmaxwell@insider.com or reach him via Signal or Telegram. Bug‑reporting can also be directed to Hugh Langley at hlangley@protonmail.com or his encrypted messaging handle.