What Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s visit to Congress taught us (spoiler: not a lot)
Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s three-hour appearance before the US House Judiciary Committee yesterday left us largely none the wiser, besides confirming how clueless most politicians are on technology.
What we learned: Despite his best evasive efforts, Pichai confirmed that Google is working on reentering the Chinese market—referring to the controversial search project “Dragonfly.” In a series of carefully worded statements Pichai said the project was an “internal” one and that there were no plans to launch a product in China “right now.” He also expressed support for a national data protection law in the US, describing the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation as a “well-thought-out, well-crafted piece of legislation.”
Political theater: There were several contenders for a “peak stupid” prize. Iowa representative Steve King appeared to be unaware that Google does not manufacture iPhones. Another asked Pichai to explain why a Google search for the word “idiot” turns up pictures of Donald Trump, part of a (futile) line of questioning by Republicans convinced search results are biased against them. Texas representative Ted Poe demanded to know if Google was able to tell if he walked from one side of the room to another. “Not by default,” replied Pichai, explaining that it would depend which apps had been installed. Credit, however, to Rhode Island’s David Cicilline, who got closest to getting some answers from Pichai on Dragonfly.
Next time: It’d be good to hear some more questions on YouTube’s role in spreading conspiracy theories, Google’s vast data collection machinery, its security practices (a second Google+ hack came to light this week), and its anti-competitive behavior.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.
Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch
Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.