Criticism of Big Tech is intensifying. At Congressional hearings last week, politicians from across the aisle gave a rough ride to executives of some of the world’s most valuable companies. Amid the hubbub, the resignation of Google’s Meredith Whittaker was less noticed, but still significant. Ms Whittaker, a Google artificial intelligence researcher, was a leader of protests inside the company last year. In an internal note to fellow employees, she warned that developers have a “short window in which to act” to stop increasingly dangerous uses of artificial intelligence.

Ms Whittaker’s resignation reflects a growing tendency for tech companies’ own staff to try to serve as the moral compass and conscience of their businesses. In companies whose value relies so much on human and intellectual capital — and in being able to attract the sharpest minds — employees have considerable potential leverage, especially collectively.

The Google Walkouts of which Ms Whittaker was a leader began in response to the search group’s treatment of sexual harassment complaints. They snowballed to encompass broader issues around the company’s technologies. Amazon has also faced worker unrest. Earlier this year, almost 8,000 employees signed an open letter to chief executive Jeff Bezos calling for transparency on how the retailer would deal with climate change. In 2018, workers protested against the sale of facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies.