[bluefirebrand]

HR might as well say:

"It doesn't matter if you take the bags of cash or not, we will do our best to destroy your life if you mess with us after you are gone. The bags of cash are a formality, but you might as well accept them because we have the power to crush you either way"

[rockemsockem]

Google HR is going to crush Geoffrey Hinton? I feel like that would work out worse for Google than for him.

[bluefirebrand]

Large corporations like Google have a lot of resources and connections to really mess up a single persons life if they really want to, with expensive legal action and PR campaigns.

Yeah, they might cause their reputation some damage by going after the wrong person, but let's be real here.. the worst outcome for Google would likely be miles ahead of the worst outcome for Hinton.

Edit: Note that I'm not actually saying that I think Google and Hinton have this level of adversarial relationship.

I'm just saying that big companies may come after you for speaking out against them regardless of if you've accepted hush money or not.

Given that, it's usually worth being tactful when talking about former employers regardless of any payouts you may have accepted or agreements you may have signed.

[KirillPanov]

The Google department responsible for this is called Global Security and Resilience Services. Staffed by ex-military and FBI. Look it up.