Google employees have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with the company's management, including CEO Sundar Pichai, over how it has mishandled the rollout of Bard, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool and a ChatGPT rival.
According to posts and memes accessed by CNBC, employees vented their frustrations with the Bard announcement on the company's famous internal forum Memegen, calling it "rushed," "botched," and "un-Googley."
Bard AI Announcement
Google CEO Pichai shared some information about the company's chatbot technology with the public on Monday, Feb. 6, one day before a Microsoft presentation. On Wednesday, Feb. 8, further details about Bard were unveiled during an event in Paris.
Microsoft is an early investor in ChatGPT inventor OpenAI. The firm invited reporters to its offices in Redmond, Washington, between the two events mentioned above to demonstrate how its Bing search engine would work with the trendy chatbot platform.
On Wednesday at Google's presentation, search chief Prabhakar Raghavan showed a few slides showcasing Bard's capabilities. Tuners were hoping for more details, and some workers were unaware of what was happening. During the demonstration, one of the presenters realized they had forgotten to bring a phone.
Meanwhile, Twitter users started pointing out that a Bard advertisement gave a misleading depiction of a telescope that captured the first images of a planet beyond our solar system.
Employees' Sentiments
Memegen is usually a platform where Google staff can poke fun at the company's shortcomings in a lighthearted way. Still, the postings made following the Bard news had a far less amusing tone and were even aimed at Pichai personally.
One image with a stern photo of Pichai stated, "Dear Sundar, the Bard launch and the layoffs were rushed, botched, and myopic." One user requested that he take a long-term perspective again. Other employees gave the post a lot of support.
Another popular joke said that Sundar and his leadership deserve a "Perf NI," referring to the lowest possible rating in the company's evaluation of employees' work. Apparently, in their attempt at sharpening focus, it is said that the company seems to be humorously short-sighted and "un-Googley."
Googley is reportedly a jargon for ambitious and hardworking with an emphasis on mutual regard and cooperation.
Core Business
Concerns about the danger posed by ChatGPT to Google's core search business and the company's rushed response to Microsoft's event have caused Alphabet shares to fall by more than 7% this week.
The company's standing in the field of AI has long been a source of worry. In light of ChatGPT's sudden popularity, workers wanted to know what set the firm apart from the competition in the area of AI at a meeting held in December 2022. Executives replied that the company's reputation might be damaged if it rushed into using the still-imperfect AI-chat technology.
