Google Accused of Axing Over 200 Workers Who Trained Gemini Chatbot After They Demanded Better Pay

The rise of artificial intelligence has been heralded as a new era of innovation, but what happens when the human labour behind the technology is pushed to its limits?

That question is now facing Google, as the tech giant stands accused of laying off more than 200 workers responsible for training its acclaimed Gemini chatbot.

The alleged reason? These individuals were reportedly let go shortly after they united to demand improved pay and working conditions.

Subcontractors Laid Off After Demanding Better Conditions

More than 200 of Google's contracted staff, who worked on testing its AI products, were let go last month. The dismissals reportedly occurred after the workers had raised concerns about low wages and poor working conditions.

The affected workers, who were employed by an external company named GlobalLogic, not Google's parent company Alphabet, were responsible for testing the Gemini AI chatbot. Their task was to help the AI's responses sound more natural and human-like.

This is not the first time Google has faced criticism over its treatment of third-party staff working on its premises.

The cuts, which reportedly occurred abruptly in two waves last month, are claimed by some to have been an attempt to stop the long-standing complaints of the testers. According to Wired, these individuals were required to hold a master's or a PhD to participate in an AI-focused 'super rater program'. They had been protesting their low wages and job instability.

'I was just cut off,' Andrew Lauzon, one of the laid-off workers, told Wired. 'I asked for a reason and they said ramp-down on the project – whatever that means'. At least two of the dismissed staff have since filed official complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming they were dismissed for speaking out.

Wired interviewed eight workers who shared similar accounts of poor pay and difficult working conditions, like being required to complete certain tasks in just five minutes.

'I don't even keep count of how many I do in a day', one worker identified as Alex told the outlet. 'I just focus more on the timer than anything else — it's gone from mentally stimulating work to mind-numbing'.

According to Wired, the workers had become concerned that GlobalLogic intended to replace their human testing roles with AI. The publication, which obtained internal documents, reported that the contractors were actually being used to train a Google AI system that rates chatbot responses.

A Push for Redundancy

The outsourcing firm had reportedly taken measures that were seen as an attempt to reduce its workforce, such as enforcing a mandatory return-to-office policy for its Austin, Texas-based contractors.

'How are we supposed to feel secure in this employment when we know that we could go at any moment?' Lauzon added.

A spokesperson for Google explained that the testers had been temporarily assigned to evaluate its products, and that their feedback was only one of several measures used to monitor Gemini's performance.

'These individuals are employees of GlobalLogic or their subcontractors, not Alphabet', the Google spokesperson said in a statement. 'As the employers, GlobalLogic and their subcontractors are responsible for the employment and working conditions of their employees.'

The Widening Pay Gap and Rise of a Union

The problems reportedly intensified in 2023 as Google ramped up its work on AI. To meet the growing labour demands, GlobalLogic began hiring more subcontractors through third-party firms, paying them a lower rate of $18 (£13.20) to $22 (£16.13) per hour — in contrast to the $28 (£20.53) to $32 (£23.46) hourly wage earned by the company's in-house 'super raters'.

In a bid to secure better wages, the 'super raters' began organising a union. According to Wired, their chapter had 18 members by December 2024, a number that then soared to 60 just two months later in February.

The workers claim that in response to their organising, GlobalLogic tightened restrictions on internal communication, reportedly banning the use of social media channels during work hours.

The Competitive Landscape

The dismissals come at a time when Google is in fierce competition with rivals such as Sam Altman's OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI to develop the leading AI chatbot.

Gemini's tendency to generate 'hallucinations' filled with false information has been a source of criticism for Google. One notable example is its false claim that Eminem performed at the funeral of Jeff Bezos's mother.

Simultaneously, the Sundar Pichai-led search engine giant has been undergoing its own internal restructuring, which has included redundancies. These have involved offering 'voluntary' severance packages to certain remote workers while also enforcing a mandate for staff to be in the office three days a week.