Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, is on a mission to help America in its tech competition with China. While many laud his efforts, others say he wields too much influence.
When Eric Schmidt was the CEO of Google, he was a strong proponent of the idea that having U.S. internet companies operating in China would be beneficial to both countries. Even after Google was the target of a major cyberattack in 2009, forcing the company to make a decision about whether to stay in the mainland, Schmidt advocated for staying, "I believed that it would be better to stay in China, and help China to be more open," he said.He made the comments in a BBC interview he gave after stepping down as Google's CEO.
Eric Schmidt opening Google Zeitgeist (Google's annual thought leadership conference) in 2012. Credit: Loic Le Meur via Wikimedia Commons
Schmidt lost that argument — the company moved its operations to Hong Kong — but he likely wouldn’t be caught expressing such hopeful sentiments about China today. In just the past three years, the 67-year-old billionaire has become one of the most prominent voices raising the alarm about China’s tech capabilities and h
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