Google CEO visits White House and Congress to fight against anti-Conservative bias charges before key audience

Google CEO Sundar Pichai traveled to Washington on Friday to defend the giant in the fight against allegations that he would silence the conservatives online, in order to defuse political tensions between Hill later this year.

Weeks after President Trump accused Google of "rigging" the search results, the company's executive paid a visit to the White House on Friday to Larry Kudlow, one of the president's chief economic advisers. During the private session, devoted to "issues impacting Internet platforms and the economy in general," Pichai agreed to participate in an upcoming roundtable with the President and other stakeholders on the Internet.

The spokeswoman said details would be forthcoming, including other technology giants invited to the meeting. Previously, Kudlow said the Trump administration was open to regulating search results, but the president subsequently seemed to distance himself from this idea.

Earlier Friday, Pichai also sought to face his critics at Capitol Hill. At a meeting with a dozen Republicans, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (California), told Pichai that party lawmakers are concerned about the transparency and power of social media. world research.

Google has long denied that it is censoring conservatives. Pichai explained during the meeting about an hour with lawmakers how the company sets up its teams and codes its algorithms to prevent bias, according to a person who attended the meeting under cover of anonymity .

Pichai's trip to Washington comes in anticipation of his appearance in the fall, during which legislators insisted that he would press not only for censorship, but also ambitions to revive his search engine in China strongly censored.

After meeting with lawmakers, Pichai called his conversations "constructive and informative," adding in a statement that Google was "determined to continue an active dialogue with members on both sides, working proactively with Congress how our products help millions of US consumers and businesses and answer questions as they arise. "

But the personal influence of Pichai – the beginning of a new wave to come – allowed Google to win a month in the nation's capital. In parallel with Trump's recent attacks, fears over the size and power of the tech industry dominated a meeting this week between the Department of Justice and Attorneys General, where some officials said they were willing to investigate Google and its affiliates. antitrust.

In Washington, others wonder whether Google and the rest of the tech industry are prepared to prevent foreign governments, like Russia, from spreading online propaganda before the November elections. Yet Google has infuriated lawmakers when it opted against sending Pichai or Larry Page, the managing director of parent company Alphabet, to testify at a Senate hearing this month on the issue . Instead, lawmakers left an empty chair at the witness table to reflect the absence of Google and still focused on the company.

Sign that some Democrats and Republicans remain angry against Google, Sens. Richard Burr (RN.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) – the panel leaders who had asked Google to testify – refused to meet Pichai. this week, according to two people familiar with the issue who were not allowed to speak. Burr's office declined to comment; a spokesman for Warner confirmed the question.

Instead, Pichai is huddled from Thursday with lawmakers like Nancy Pelosi (California), Democratic House leader, and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), spokesmen confirmed. Mr. Schatz took the opportunity to lobby Google about his privacy practices, he said, while other lawmakers are wondering if they should adopt new privacy practices. regulations limiting the collection and monetization of user data.

At Friday's meeting, the representative of the House Judiciary Committee, Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Stated that his peers and he had "warned" Pichai to wait for questions on issues. The date of the hearing before the panel has not been announced.

"There is a lot of interest in the algorithm, how do these algorithms work, how are these algorithms supervised," Goodlatte said.

Some Republicans have also pressured Pichai on Google's ambitions in China, although Pichai said Google was far from making the final decision whether to launch a censored version of its search engine, according to Goodlatte.