Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has done a 180 after claiming that his former company is losing the AI race due to its remote working policy. The Wall Street Journal reports that the original comments came during an address at Stanford University on Wednesday – and were soon followed by a hasty rebuttal.
Among those who responded with uproar, were current Google employees, who took to X to make clear that understaffing, layoffs and stagnant wages were to blame for lack of progress, rather than remote work.
Schmidt’s gaffe comes as the remote working debate rolls on. While the likes of Elon Musk, and JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, are united in their distaste for flexible working, Tech.co recently reported that the tide is turning, with many CEOs relaxing their attitudes towards hybrid working.
Schmidt ‘Regrets’ Earlier Comments
As reported by Wall Street Journal, Schmidt made his original comments during an address at Stanford University on Wednesday. He claimed: ‘Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning. The reason startups work is because people work like hell.’
Footage of the talk was posted on YouTube, quickly amassing over 40,000 views, before it was made private. Schmidt later requested that the video be taken down. As of Thursday morning, it remains on the site, albeit privately.
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Schmidt later emailed the Wall Street Journal to express his ‘regret’ over the comments, claiming ‘I misspoke about Google and their work hours.’ It is not clear what prompted this retraction and Schmidt has declined to comment further.
The former CEO exited his post in 2011 after 10 years at the helm, and later left his executive chairman role in 2018. He remains a shareholder in parent company Alphabet Inc.
Google Employees Fight Back at Claims
Unsurprisingly, Schmidt’s comments have proved unpopular with employees of Alphabet Inc. Representing over 1000 workers across the US and Canada, Alphabet Workers Union took to X to defend its members. ‘Understaffing, shifting priorities, constant layoffs, stagnant wages and lack of follow-through from management on projects—these factors slow Google workers down every day.’
Flexible work arrangements don’t slow down our work.
Understaffing, shifting priorities, constant layoffs, stagnant wages and lack of follow-through from management on projects – these factors slow Google workers down every day.https://t.co/f37n6RuEKm
— Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA) (@AlphabetWorkers) August 14, 2024
Since 2022, Google has mandated that employees visit the office at least three days a week. This more relaxed approach has been a hit among employees – with the company consistently ranked among the best places to work by a variety of publications. Alongside this, the company does offer a number of fully remote roles.
Increasingly, companies that try to change their hybrid working policies are facing derision from their employees. Computing giant Dell has found itself in hot water over recent return-to-office (RTO) mandates, with staff in open revolt. This comes in spite of study findings that suggest remote workers are happier and more engaged with their colleagues – regardless of the physical distance between them.
Tech Giant Lagging in AI Race
Google has been in OpenAI’s shadow ever since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022. The company rolled out its flagship AI model, Gemini, earlier this year – but the move was quickly met with outrage as critics claimed that Google’s platform was ‘discriminatory.’
Among the numerous blunders, Gemini was accused of generating historically inaccurate images, including Black Vikings and a female Pope. X founder Elon Musk, whose own AI solution, Grok, styles itself as ‘anti-woke,’ later claimed that the company had ‘made their insane racist, anti-civilizational programming clear to all.’
In an effort to get one step closer to the competition, Google has issued a revamped Gemini to accompany its new suite of Pixel phones. Whether or not it can close the gap on its contemporaries remains to be seen, but there’s one thing we can say for certain – Google’s hybrid working policy is not to blame for its AI shortcomings.
