Derrick Connell leaving position as Bing and Cortana VP to pursue passion for human rights

Michael Cottuli

Microsoft NASCAR

Derrick Connell, the person leading the charge for Bing and Cortana in Microsoft, has decided to leave Microsoft behind in an effort to help further the fight for human rights. The announcement was made on aiforhumanrights.org, a website that’s helping to teach AI to better monitor and preserve human rights and equality.

All around me I see pain and suffering. I see it close to home as people lose their healthcare, and I see it around the world with people suffering from slavery (21,000,000 people) and I cannot sit idly by and have a “good life” by ignoring it.

Connell declared the official transition date to be April 1st, though it’s highly unlikely that this has anything to do with April Fool’s day. He didn’t reveal any kind of plan regarding the nature of his work with AI for Human Rights, but noted that more information will be coming soon.

If you want to help out with the AI for Human Rights project, you can check out their website and sign up to get some more information. While you don’t have to quit your job and dedicate your career to the cause, they’d definitely appreciate some Microsoft fans pitching in to help.