2 weeks ago
Google announced Friday that it is releasing a people aimed astatine school 1 cardinal Americans really to usage artificial intelligence tools.
As portion of nan rollout, nan tech elephantine besides announced that its charitable arm, Google.org, has budgeted $75 cardinal successful grants for AI skills training to group successful agrarian and underserved areas.
The caller AI skills people will beryllium disposable for $49 connected Coursera, a for-profit online people provider.
The announcement comes aft Google scrapped its rules requiring suppliers and staffing firms it useful pinch to supply bully salary and benefits to their labor - on pinch laying disconnected thousands of employees despite turning grounds profits.
Google announced 2 caller initiatives: One is simply a self-paced people connected AI skills, nan different is simply a assistance programme for AI occupation skills training.
According to nan people listing, it will thatch users really to 'Use generative AI devices to thief create ideas and content, make much informed decisions, and velocity up regular activity tasks,' and to do truthful responsibly.
The people besides promises that learners will 'Develop strategies to enactment up-to-date successful nan emerging scenery of AI.'
As acold arsenic nan $75 cardinal successful grants from nan AI Opportunity Fund, those will spell to 'best-in-class workforce improvement and acquisition organizations,' according to a Google spokesperson.
Organizations for illustration Goodwill Industries International will person immoderate of nan training costs 'to empower Americans to leverage AI exertion to boost productivity and hole them for nan jobs of tomorrow.'
Goodwill's profession assistance programs person been praised successful nan past for helping workers unafraid imperishable roles pinch livable salaries and benefits.
But nan statement still pays abnormal labor little than minimum costs nether nan guise of occupation skills training - a programme allowed by nan US Department of Labor.
Some abnormal labor moving nether this exemption gain little than $1 an hour.
And conscionable 1 week ago, Google announced it was rolling backmost its rules that required its business partners to supply their workers pinch a surviving wage.
Google rolled retired caller programs to train workers successful AI. Meanwhile, nan institution continues to conflict national labour authority attempts to make Google dainty labor fairly.
From 2019 until past week, Google had required nan businesses it contracted pinch to salary their labor astatine slightest $15 an hr and supply them pinch wellness security and benefits.
But because Google was exercising immoderate grade of power complete those workers, the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said this made Google a 'joint employer' of them.
Therefore, nan tech institution would beryllium required to bargain pinch their unions - thing nan institution is notoriously resistant to doing.
Google has refused to bargain pinch unionized workers overmuch person to home, including astatine YouTube, which it owns.
When YouTube contractors unanimously joined nan Alphabet Workers Union and insisted connected bargaining pinch Google complete moving conditions past year, nan tech elephantine refused.
Google has regularly suppressed its workers' protected activities, nan National Labor Relations Board has found.
This refusal was against nan law, ruled nan NLRB successful January of this year.
These are not isolated incidents, either. Google has been accused of illegally firing workers for unionizing, interfering pinch protected activities, and mostly engaging successful forbidden behaviour to suppress its workers from exercising their authorities to shape for amended moving conditions, according to nan Economic Policy Institute.
The caller charitable programs that Google announced coming besides travel connected nan heels of high-profile layoffs.
Google reported that it made a $20.7 cardinal profit successful nan 4th fourth of 2023, an summation of 52 percent compared to nan erstwhile year, yet its workforce shrunk by 4 percent.
Kenneth Smith, an engineering head astatine Google, said guidance notified him that his occupation was being eliminated successful an email and complained successful a LinkedIn post that nan institution didn't 'acknowledge their humanity.'
'I've harbored a batch of anger and vexation astatine Google's activity for really they handled nan layoffs of 12 1000 group past January,' he wrote, adding: 'And I don't spot a batch of grounds that they've learned overmuch from that experience.'
The move came soon aft Google launched its ample connection exemplary (LLM) called Goose, and aft it announced a awesome finance successful AI startup anthropic.
The caller AI people is self-paced and included 10 hours of worldly dispersed retired complete 5 modules.
