Timnit Gebru gave me an early copy of her book Deep Unlearning!
Big tech tried to silence my friend Timnit Gebru, and it backfired spectacularly. When she served as co-lead of Google’s Ethical AI team and raised concerns about bias in large language models, Google fired her. She continued speaking up, and TIME named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She now serves as the Executive Director of the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR), helping communities most at risk of facing harms from AI.
Her new memoir Deep Unlearning comes out February 16, 2027. I read an early accessible copy and loved it! I asked her to sign a print copy so I could impress my parents — we’re all big fans of Timnit!
Preorder your copy of Deep Unlearning to help her reach the bestseller lists so more people find her book and learn from her story.
Jump to heading#Descriptive Transcript
Timnit Gebru smiles as she types on a keyboard and Haben Girma reads her words on a Braille computer. They’re sitting at an outdoor cafe. A festive yellow drink and a plate of Brussels sprouts are on the table.
Haben (voiceover): Big tech tried to silence her and that backfired!
She holds up a copy of the book, and then gives it to Timnit.
Haben (voiceover): Deep Unlearning is the story of Timnit Gebru. Her journey from Ethiopia to Silicon Valley, and learning to speak up for the things that are important. Technology should be designed for all of us, for all of our different bodies, minds, languages.
Timnit writes inside the book with a pen. Then she types on the keyboard to Haben, and Haben smiles and laughs in response.
Haben (voiceover): She is courageous! She is brilliant! She is so generous! I can’t believe she gave me an early copy of her book and signed it!
Photo: The book cover for “Deep Unlearning: The Rise of AI and The Radicalization of a Tech Idealist by Timnit Gebru” uses bold black text with the exception of the letters “UN,” which are in orange. The center has two concentric circles: the left one features black and white electrical circuits, and the right shows black dots in a sea of orange. The circles pop against the cream-colored background.
Timnit smiles as she holds up her open book, showing the message she just wrote. It’s mostly too small to see on camera, but it starts with, “To my dearest Haben,” and ends “With much love, Timnit.”
Haben (voiceover): Deep Unlearning comes out in February. Preorder your copy to help support the fiercest advocate for ethical tech.