Google has terminated a contract it had with Appen, an Australian data company that participates in training the language models used in Bard, search, and other Google products. This happens at a time when competition in the world of artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly fierce, and more and more companies are creating their own generative AI.
“Our decision to terminate the contract was made as part of our ongoing effort to evaluate and adjust many of our partnerships with suppliers across Alphabet to ensure that our supplier operations are as efficient as possible,” said Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini to The Verge.
On the other hand, Appen notified the Australian Stock Exchange in a statement, stating that “it had no prior knowledge of Google’s decision to terminate the contract”. As The Verge comments in its article, workers from companies like Appen are usually responsible for many of the most unpleasant parts of AI training and are generally the lowest paid and often overlooked backbone of the entire industry.
Appen employees are responsible for evaluating the quality of data and responses from AI models. As reported by Fast Company last year, some Appen employees who are members of the Alphabet Workers Union asked Appen to increase wages from $10 to $15 per hour. Although the union achieved several wage increases, the desired amount was not ultimately reached, and many of these workers were fired due to “business conditions”, according to Appen.
Appen has also helped train AI models for Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, according to CNBC. The company stated in a presentation that its work with Google had a significant impact on its revenue, which amounted to $82.8 million in 2023 alone. Mencini added that Google is working closely with Appen to make the transition “as smooth as possible”.
