Alphabet cuts ties with Australian AI firm that helped train Bard and Google Search

Alphabet has cut contractual ties with Appen, the artificial intelligence data firm that helped train Google's chatbot Bard, Google Search results and other AI products.

After a "strategic review process," Alphabet notified Appen over the weekend of the termination, which will go into effect March 19, according to a filing from Appen. The company said it had "no prior knowledge of Google's decision to terminate the contract."

Alphabet accounted for roughly one-third of Appen's revenue, meaning the decision to end the relationship will impact "at least two thousand subcontracted Alphabet workers," according to a statement Monday from the Alphabet Workers Union.

Appen, based in Australia, has helped train AI models for a star-studded list of tech behemoths. Five customers — Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Google and Amazon — have in the past accounted for 80% of Appen's revenue. Appen has a platform of about 1 million freelance workers in more than 170 countries.

In 2023, revenue from work with Alphabet totaled $82.8 million of Appen's $273 million in sales for the year, according to Monday's filing.

Despite Appen's enviable client list and its nearly 30-year history, the company has struggled in recent years with a loss of customers, a string of executive departures and plummeting financials — even as generative AI tools increased demand for training data. Revenue dropped 30% in 2023, after declining 13% a year earlier, which the company attributed in part to "challenging external operating and macro conditions."

In August 2020, Appen's shares peaked at AU$42.44 ($27.08) on the Australian Securities Exchange, sending its market cap to the equivalent of $4.3 billion. Now, the stock is trading at around 28 Australian cents, down more