Quite a narrow view to interpret what happened there as firing Gebru for publishing on AI safety. Google still conducts and publishes research on AI safety, just without Gebru who helpfully offered to resign if Google didn't name her critics.

Ethics, not safety. AI safety as a term became a big focus after that, largely pushed by big AI vendors, and largely as a way of refocusing attention away from the issues being raised by people working in AI ethics.