Google cancels contract with AI company that also helped Microsoft and Amazon

Google has ended its contract with Australian data company Appen, which had helped the tech giant train the large language model (LLM) AI tools used in Bard and Search.

Appen said in an Australian exchange filing that it had no prior knowledge of Google’s decision to end the contract. In FY23, Appen’s revenue from Google was $82.8 million at a gross margin of 26 percent.

“The news is unexpected and disappointing, particularly given the progress made against Appen’s transformation and performance in November and December 2023,” the company said in its filing.

A Google spokesperson told The Verge that the decision to end the contract was made “as part of our ongoing effort to evaluate and adjust our many supplier partnerships across Alphabet to make our vendor operations as efficient as possible “.

At Appen, contractors help rate data quality and answers from AI models. Appan has also helped train AI models for Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon.

“Appen continues to focus on cost management, business transformation and the delivery of high-quality AI data to its customers,” it added.

The Australian company will immediately adjust its strategic priorities following the Google contract expiration notification and will provide more details in its FY23 full-year results on February 27.

Google is working closely with Appen to make the change “as seamless as possible.”

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – IANS)