Google's Former AI Training Firm, Appen, Loses Key Executives

Several executives at Appen, a prominent artificial intelligence training firm, have reportedly stepped down months after Alphabet cut ties with the Australian firm.

According to reports, Australian startup Appen helped Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Google, and Amazon train their AI algorithms.

Appen has been around for about thirty years and has an amazing clientele. But recently, the business has struggled with declining revenues, multiple executive departures, and poor financial outcomes.

CHINA-TECHNOLOGY-AI-ROMACE — This photo taken on February 2, 2024 shows Lu Yu, head of Product Management and Operations of Wantalk, an artificial intelligence chatbot created by Chinese tech company Baidu, showing a virtual girlfriend profile on her phone, at the Baidu headquarters in Beijing. JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images

(Photo: JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images) This photo, taken on February 2, 2024, shows Lu Yu, head of Product Management and Operations of Wantalk, an artificial intelligence chatbot created by Chinese tech company Baidu, showing a virtual girlfriend profile on her phone at the Baidu headquarters in Beijing.

Andrew Ettinger, the chief revenue officer, and Alicia Hale, the chief marketing officer, left the Australian company this week, according to an internal memo that sources could view. The two executives joined the group last year.

The exits come after Alphabet declared in January that it was ending its business relationship with Appen, which had previously assisted in training Google's chatbot and other AI products. following just 12 months on the job, Appen CEO Armughan Ahmad departed two weeks following that decision.

At the time, the Alphabet Workers Union claimed that cutting connections would impact at least 2,000 subcontracted Alphabet employees, as the company accounted for around one-third of Appen's income.

Appen's Recent Woes

Despite its nearly 30-year existence and impressive client base, Appen's sales fell by 30% in 2023, compared to a 13% decline the year before. The corporation partially blamed difficult external operational and macroeconomic conditions for the drop.

Five clients accounted for 80% of Appen's revenue before this: Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon. Using its platform comprised more than a million independent freelancers dispersed over more than 170; the company educated some of the best AI systems.

Former employees claimed last year that the company's disjointed organizational structure and years of slack quality assurance practices were to blame for the conversion's difficulties to generative AI.

Appen has previously worked for digital businesses on initiatives like determining the relevancy of search results, assisting AI assistants in understanding requests in various dialects, using AI to classify photographs from e-commerce, and creating maps showing charging station locations for electric vehicles.

Additionally, according to the most recent message, vice presidents of sales and global solutions would now report directly to Kolln, who said that the company targets customers who are already investing in data services.

Alphabet and Appen

Following Alphabet's January announcement, the company expressed surprise and disappointment at the news, noting that Appen continues to prioritize cost containment, business turnaround, and offering its clients high-quality AI data.

The decision made by Alphabet at the time affected employees who are also referred to as "ghost workers," or the unseen human labor force that trains everyday users of systems and works to detect text, images, audio, and other data to develop AI systems utilized by big tech companies like Google.

Appen employees work remotely, meticulously reviewing data to develop AI that powers speech recognition apps such as Google Assistant and public searches.