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Google CEO Sundar Pichai has publicly announced his company's plan to re-enter the Chinese market with a product focused on research and news, telling the crowd wired25th Anniversary Summit of the Organization, according to which such a service would be able to respond to 99% of requests. Pichai called the Chinese market "important to explore" given its size and the very high probability that it will become the largest and most lucrative Internet-using population on the planet.
"We wanted to know what Google would look like if we were in China," said Pichai. "It is very early, we do not know if we could do this in China, but we felt it was important for us to explore. I think it's important for us given the importance of the market and the number of users. "
The conversation between Pichai and journalist Steven Levy marks the first time that the CEO has publicly addressed Google's China-centric research programs, known internally as Project Dragonfly. Previously, information about the Dragonfly project was limited to initial revelations first reported by L & # 39; interception, the internal leaks that followed, and the conversation reports of Google representatives with the Congress.
Although Pichai describes his company's projects in China as very preliminary, it is clear that the negative reactions inside and outside the company have been expressed and will only intensify in the coming months. Many employees signed an open letter asking Google to abandon the project, fearing that its detractors would suppress freedom of expression in China and be turned into weapons by the country's government only to silence dissidents and monitor its citizens. Congress and the White House also expressed disapproval, calling the potential product a threat to democracy and "strengthening Communist Party censorship and compromising the privacy of Chinese customers," in the words of Vice President Mike Pence .
At the end of last month, researcher Jack Poulson publicly resigned from the company and criticized the project to revive a research product in China, which is "unethical" and contrary to the values of society. "I was forced to resign from my position on August 31, 2018, as a result of an unethical and inexplicable decision-making process on the part of the directors of the company." company, "wrote Poulson in his resignation letter. "This resulted in their refusal to disclose information about Project Dragonfly, a version of Google Search tailored to the Chinese government's censorship and surveillance requirements."
according to The New York TimesPoulson made the decision after meeting Google's head of artificial intelligence, Jeff Dean, who downplayed concerns that Google employees might be asked to work on projects with which they disagree with their philosophy. and their morality. Google reacted to the tumult in the company by limiting access to Dragonfly project documents, the Intercept reported in August.
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