• Microsoft has reportedly laid off its entire “ethics and society” team within the AI organization as part of recent global layoffs affecting 10,000 workers.
• The move leaves Microsoft without a dedicated team to ensure AI principles closely tied to product design are being followed.
• This round of layoffs also comes as Microsoft is aggressively expanding its in-house generative AI, Bing AI.
• Microsoft maintains an “active Office of Responsible AI” tasked with creating rules and principles for its AI initiatives.
• The company stated its commitment to developing AI-powered products by “investing in people, processes, and partnerships.”
• The statement did not clarify whether employees from the ethics team were laid off, but claimed the department increased “the number of people across our product teams and within the Office of Responsible AI.”
