POLICY
POLICY
POLICY
Sundar Pichai tells Congress Chinese search engine isn’t coming soon
Google LLC Chief Executive Sundar Pichai met with the House judiciary committee Tuesday, three months after the company failed to turn up for a date with Congress with other tech giants.
One of the more contentious issues discussed and one that is currently causing internal discord at the company was that of “Project Dragonfly,” a censored search engine made for China. Pichai (pictured) told the committee that Google has no plans to launch the search engine for the time being.
“Right now, there are no plans for us to launch a search product in China,” said Pichai. This seems to go against an article published in The Intercept in October. That piece featured a leaked transcript that seemed to suggest that Google was close to launching the search engine.
Pichai also said Google had 100 employees dedicated to the project at one point, and he didn’t say whether work had stopped. He was then asked what information would be shared with the Chinese government if the project went ahead.
“Anytime we look to operate in a country, we would look at what the conditions are to operate,” he replied. “There are times in the past we have debated the conditions to operate and we explore a wide range of possibilities. Currently, it is an effort only internally for us. We are not doing this in China.”
Besides the Chinese problem, Pichai was asked if Google had rigged its search algorithm to favor certain political parties. He responded saying he has no political bias and neither do the company’s products.
“To do otherwise would go against our core principles and our business interests,” Pichai added. “We are a company that provides platforms for diverse perspectives and opinions – and we have no shortage of them among our own employees.”
As for the problem of YouTube moderation, Pichai said there was no easy fix. When it comes to outlandish conspiracy theory videos, hate speech or hardcore content appearing on children’s channels, he said, “there’s more work to be done. With our growth comes more responsibility, and we’re committed to doing better as we invest more in that area.”
Photo: Maurizio Pesce/Flickr
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