Sundar Pichai testified to Congress this morning. In a later interview, the Google CEO suggested other areas in China, instead of Search, like healthcare…<\/b>
\nSundar Pichai testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee this morning during a 3.5 hour session that ranged from accusations of Search result bias, interference by foreign powers, and more. One area that Congress was particularly critical on was China and Project Dragonfly. In an interview later in the day, the Google CEO suggested other areas in China, instead of search, that the company could look into.
It has been widely reported that Google was at least developing a search engine that would abide by Chinese censorship laws and block results about protests, human rights, and other sensitive topics. Pichai is an advocate of bringing Google back to China because of the over one billion population.
He \u2014 and others \u2014 have argued that having a more significant presence in the market is key to organizing the world\u2019s information and making it universally accessible, per Google\u2019s mission. The obvious backlash is that the company would be curtailing a Chinese user\u2019s access to information and helping further state censorship and oppression.
Google argued its \u201cAmerican roots\u201d and principles in front of Congress. Pichai also offered to discuss and brief lawmakers before a possible return to China.
Both areas could still be read as features of a search engine rather than independent products. For example, Pichai could have been discussing health in the context of having Google\u2019s Search product be better than local competitors, especially in regards to health results; a point he noted when last asked about Dragonfly in public.
However, it raises the interesting possibility that the company could try developing other services that are less likely to offend employees.
While education could be equally contentious in China, healthcare might be less so. One future product could be a comprehensive offering to help manage overall wellbeing. In recent weeks, Google Health has been moving to consolidate the company\u2019s and Alphabet\u2019s desperate efforts into one team. Google recently hired a new leader for a division with a possible purview ranging from Google Fit to Search and AI.<\/p>\n