Over 200 The contractors that worked on the evaluation and improvement Google’s AI In at least two rounds of layoffs, products were laid off last month without notice. Workers who spoke to WIRED said that the layoffs are part of an ongoing dispute about pay and working conditions.
In the past few years, Google has outsourced its AI rating work—which includes evaluating, editing, or rewriting the Gemini chatbot’s response to make it sound more human and “intelligent”—to thousands of contractors employed by Hitachi-owned GlobalLogic and other outsourcing companies. GlobalLogic’s raters are mostly based in America and work with English-language material. As content moderators purge and categorize content on social networks, these workers apply their skills and expertise to help chatbots or other AI-based products. This includes Google’s “search summaries” feature. AI Overviews—the right responses on a wide range of subjects. The workers claim that these latest reductions are part of a campaign to quell their protests, including those over pay and insecurity.
Super raters, often hired for their expertise, must have a PhD or at least a PhD. They include teachers, writers and creative people.
“I was just cut off,” Andrew Lauzon received an email on August 15 informing him of his dismissal. “I asked for a reason, and they said ramp-down on the project—whatever that means.” In March 2024 he joined GlobalLogic, and his job included everything from rating AI results to generating a range of inputs for the model.
Lauzon said that the move made by this company shows how precarious such jobs are. He claims that GlobalLogic began regularly terminating its employees this year. “How are we supposed to feel secure in this employment when we know that we could go at any moment?” He added.
Still working for the company, workers claim to be increasingly worried that they will soon be replaced. WIRED has seen internal documents that show GlobalLogic is using human raters in order to train Google AI to automatically grade the answers. The goal, according to the documents, was to replace them with AI.
The company continues to recruit new employees while also finding ways of getting rid of its current workers. According to an announcement seen by WIRED, GlobalLogic insisted that its employees return to the office every day. The decision has affected several employees who are unable to go to the office because of financial restrictions or due to disability or caring responsibilities.
In spite of handling jobs they call skilled and high stakes, eight employees who spoke with WIRED said they were underpaid. According to sources, these conditions have affected worker morale as well as their ability to do their jobs. Sources claim that some contractors tried to organize earlier in the year, but their efforts were crushed. The company, they claim, has now retaliated. They claim that the company has retaliated against them.
