Gebru Book Chronicles AI Ethics Fight
Timnit Gebru's forthcoming book, Deep Unlearning, is scheduled for publication in February 2027.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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Computer scientist Timnit Gebru is set to publish Deep Unlearning: The Rise of AI and the Radicalization of a Tech Idealist in February 2027. The book recounts her experience as a Black woman working in tech and her 2020 firing by Google as head of its Ethical AI team.
Why it matters
The book revisits Google's decision to fire Gebru after she released a paper raising concerns about large language models, including environmental costs and training biases. It also examines flawed facial recognition systems that disproportionately misidentify people of color.
The book is scheduled for February 2027, roughly six years after Gebru's 2020 firing by Google. The source does not provide sales projections, print runs, or reader reception data.
The players
Timnit Gebru
Timnit Gebru is a computer scientist and founder of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute who previously worked at Apple, Google and Microsoft.
Google is a technology company that fired Timnit Gebru in 2020 as head of its Ethical AI team after she released a paper on large language models.
The details
Deep Unlearning draws on Gebru's experience as a computer scientist who worked at Apple, Google and Microsoft and founded the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute. The book also covers her family's 1998 flight from the Ethiopian-Eritrean war and her arrival in the United States as a teenager.
Timeline
1998: Gebru flees the Ethiopian-Eritrean war with her family.
2020: Google fires Gebru as head of its Ethical AI team.
February 2027: Deep Unlearning is scheduled for publication.
Big Picture
The forthcoming book revisits Google's 2020 firing of Timnit Gebru after her paper on large language models raised concerns about environmental costs and training biases. It adds a personal account to the public debate over how major tech companies handle internal AI ethics research.
Readers following AI tools may find Gebru's account useful for understanding how bias and environmental costs are raised within tech companies. The book is a personal perspective rather than a product change, so no immediate changes to tools or services are indicated.
The takeaway
The book offers a first-person view of how internal ethics research on AI can collide with corporate priorities. Readers interested in responsible AI development may find its account of the 2020 firing a useful case study.
Further reading
For more on the field this book examines, explore Artificial Intelligence coverage on Wisevoter.
Source note: This article includes information reported by PublishersWeekly.
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