AI Pioneer Geoffrey Hinton Leaves Google Over Safety Concerns
Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton resigns from Google after a decade to freely discuss his growing fears about the artificial intelligence technology he helped create.
Geoffrey Hinton, a renowned artificial intelligence pioneer and vice president at Google, resigns from the tech giant after 10 years to speak openly about his growing fears regarding the technology he helped invent. The 75-year-old computer scientist, who shares the 2018 Turing Award for his foundational work in deep learning, reportedly expresses regret about his life's work as AI capabilities rapidly advance.
Hinton first joins Google in 2013 when the company acquires his AI startup DNNresearch, a spinout from his University of Toronto research group that focuses on machine learning for image recognition. He is best known for developing backpropagation, an algorithm from the 1980s that allows artificial neural networks to learn and now underpins nearly all modern machine learning models.
While Hinton consistently highlights ethical questions surrounding AI—particularly its military applications—he now feels an urgent need to address emerging risks as an independent voice rather than a corporate employee. Google chief scientist Jeff Dean acknowledges Hinton's monumental contributions and reiterates the company's commitment to responsible AI principles as the industry faces this pivotal moment.