Google
has terminated the head researcher on its AI ethics team over what the tech
giant deemed a violation of its “code of conduct,” as the company faces an
internal revolt over a previous firing of a black data scientist. Feb. 18 https://on.rt.com/b28h
So
well entrenched was this ethic of welcoming dissent that the company seemed to
abide by it even after the uprising began, taking pains to show it was heeding
activists’ concerns. Over the past year, however, Google has appeared to clamp
down. It has gradually scaled back opportunities for employees to grill their
bosses and imposed a set of workplace guidelines that forbid “a raging debate
over politics or the latest news story.” It has tried to prevent workers from
discussing their labor rights with outsiders at a Google facility and even
hired a consulting firm that specializes in blocking unions. Then, in November,
came the firing of the four activists. Feb. 18
https://nyti.ms/3azQwam
As in San Francisco (see previous post) so at Mountain View, California, where Google is headquartered, the Saturn-Uranus square straddles the meridian.
In the previous post, I wrote:
Saturn and Uranus
possess contrasting qualities, including how the consolidating contraction of
Saturn that lays down the laws that
build enduring structures can
come into conflict with the accelerated vision of Uranus that resists restrictions
and insists on making innovative changes to the status quo.
When traditional and structural Saturn and rebel and freedom-seeking Uranus clash, we experience the disruption of lightning striking the walls of our security. Rebels storm the gates of authorities. Organized protests demand reforms and systemic change.
Ultimately, these alignments are about freedom, but that doesn’t mean doing whatever you want. For life, and civilisation, to function well you need a balance between freedom and structure – Uranus and Saturn. Without good boundaries and limits, freedom can be taken too far and it becomes destructive. Equally, with too much control, life can’t flourish because creativity is stifled.
Notice that the T-square in the chart for Mountain View, CA Saturn in the 10th house (authorities; bosses) is conjunct retrograde Mercury which is about to station direct on the MC in just a couple of days. Both these are square the TNP Poseidon in the 6th house (employees). One of Martha Wescott’s key phrases for Poseidon [1] is “ideological or moral stances”. So not surprisingly, the conflict between the employees and the bosses is over ideology.
[1] https://marthalangwescott.com/basic-resources/
PS:
The CEO
of Google, Sundar Pichai (born July 12,
1972) has transit Pluto opposing his
radix Sun-South Node conjunction. Robert Hand’s delineation for Pluto to Sun
is:
Pluto Opposition Sun
This can be an extrememly
difficult period for relationships, both intimate and casual, because yoll are
likely to get involved in power struggles with others. lt may be that you will
try to force others to take a certain course of action against their will, or others
may try to do this for you. In either case you may have to take evasive actions
in order to avoid real difficulties. If you are attempting to dominate others,
you should stop, no matter what your motives are. You may think you have the
best reasons in the world for dominating people, and perhaps you believe that
you are only doing it for their own good, but that is probably not really true.
It is more likely that you simply cannot leave well enough alone. An excessive
desire to meddle and interfere is one of the negative effects of this transit.
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