Google's Sundar Pichai on his parents: ‘I grew up in a middle-class family, what resonated for me was…’

Google CEO Sundar Pichai was raised in Chennai. The top boss at Google studied from IIT Kharagpur and eventually moved to USA. Reflecting on his childhood, Sundar Pichai said that it had a huge impact on his work ethics as he learnt things that he still follows as the CEO of the tech giant. Sundar Pichai who has been the Google CEO since 2015 said, “My parent always emphasised learning and knowledge and it is what in some ways with its mission. It always resonated very deeply within me. I felt this quest for learning and knowledge, it is also what this company is about too.”

Sundar Pichai said artificial intelligence has been a key focus of the Google parent since 2016, back when ChatGPT-maker OpenAI was in its infancy.(Bloomberg)

Read more: Sundar Pichai on Google layoffs, AI plans and when his company ‘got it wrong’

He also asserted that he never takes technology for granted as he talked about his school days when he first experienced the impact of a phone.

Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India's general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now!

He said, “I grew up in a middle-class family. I perceived our lives through the arrival of gadgets. We waited five years for a telephone, it was a rotary phone. But when it came to our home, it changed our lives. I remember getting our first television and suddenly being able to watch sports.”

Read more: Sundar Pichai vs Satya Nadella: Google CEO's not playing ‘to someone else’s dance music’ reply on AI race

He added, “I used to bike a long way to school, there was no gear in the bike and I had to go uphill. After many years I got a bike with gears and I’m like Wow! What a dramatic difference. I never took technology for granted. I’ve always been optimistic about how technology can make a difference.”

Read more: Sundar Pichai on when Google layoffs will stop? ‘We can’t do it now…’

The Google boss also talk about how Google Search is still relevant in the age of AI and said, “People are trying to solve problems in their day-to-day lives. A lot of our products integrate in a way that provides value for our users. The way Google is approaching AI drives innovation, adds choice in the market. That’s how I think about it. The challenge for everyone and the opportunity is: How do you have a notion of what’s objective and real in a world where there’s going to be a lot of synthetic content? I think it’s part of what will define search in the next decade ahead.”

• ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  

  Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered.