Timnit Gebru

Timnit Gebru
Gebru at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018
Birth place	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Nationality	Eritrean-American
Occupation	Computer scientist
Known for	Ethical AI, algorithmic bias, co-authoring Gender Shades
Notable work(s)	"On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots", "Datasheets for Datasets"
website	dair-institute.org

Timnit Gebru is an Eritrean-Ethiopian-American computer scientist and advocate known for her pioneering work in algorithmic bias, ethical artificial intelligence (AI), and the social implications of technology. She co-founded the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR) and is a former co-lead of the Ethical AI team at Google. Gebru is widely recognized for her research on bias in machine learning systems, especially facial recognition technologies, and for her outspoken advocacy for diversity and accountability in tech.

Early Life and Education

Timnit Gebru was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Eritrean parents and emigrated to the United States at the age of 16 after the Eritrean–Ethiopian War. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University and worked at Apple designing circuits for consumer electronics.

Gebru later returned to Stanford to pursue a Ph.D. under the supervision of Fei-Fei Li, earning her doctorate in 2017. Her dissertation focused on the sociopolitical implications of computer vision and large-scale image datasets.

Career

Microsoft Research

Before joining Google, Gebru was a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research in the FATE (Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics in AI) group, where she investigated ethical issues surrounding machine learning and artificial intelligence systems.

Google

In 2018, Gebru joined Google as co-lead of the Ethical Artificial Intelligence team. During her time at Google, she co-authored influential research papers, including a landmark 2018 study with Joy Buolamwini that exposed racial and gender bias in commercial facial recognition systems, particularly how poorly they performed on women with darker skin tones.

In late 2020, Gebru was controversially fired (or resigned under dispute) from Google following internal disagreements related to a research paper she co-authored that critiqued the environmental and ethical risks of large language models (like those that power modern generative AI). Her departure sparked global discussions about academic freedom, diversity, and whistleblowing in the tech industry.

DAIR Institute

In 2021, Gebru launched the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), an independent, community-rooted organization dedicated to countering the concentration of power in AI by centering the needs of marginalized communities. DAIR aims to conduct critical AI research outside of Big Tech influence.

Advocacy and Impact

Timnit Gebru is an outspoken advocate for:

• Ethical AI development
• Transparency in algorithmic systems
• Accountability for bias and discrimination in tech
• Increased diversity in STEM fields

She has been a central figure in calls for regulatory oversight of AI and is a frequent keynote speaker at academic and policy conferences around the world.

Honors and Recognition

• Named one of Nature’s 10 (2021)
• Listed among Time 100 AI pioneers (2023)
• Featured in numerous outlets including MIT Technology Review, Wired, The New York Times, and BBC

Selected Publications

• “Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification” (2018, with Joy Buolamwini)
• “Datasheets for Datasets” (2018, with Gebru as co-author)
• “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?” (2021, co-authored with Emily Bender and others)

Personal Life

Gebru speaks fluent Tigrinya and Amharic and is passionate about using her platform to uplift underrepresented voices in technology. She is based in the United States and continues to lead conversations around ethical AI globally.

External Links

• DAIR Institute
• Timnit Gebru on Twitter
• Google Scholar Profile