A meme posted internally in November summed it up.

The meme featured a photo of the cast of "Wicked" actors, where one, labeled "execs" looked longingly at one fellow actor labeled "Gemini" while ignoring the other beside her, which was labeled as "users."

A Google spokesperson contested the idea that AI workers are receiving favorable treatment and said higher travel and recruiting budgets are not exclusive to AI teams or DeepMind.

"Most Googlers, regardless of team, continue to feel positively about our mission and the company's future, and are proud to work here," the spokesperson said.