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Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 11, 2018.
President Donald Trump said in a tweet Wednesday he met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai about “political fairness” on the platform and the company’s dealings in China.
“Meeting ended very well!” Trump said in a second tweet.
….Also discussed political fairness and various things that @Google can do for our Country. Meeting ended very well!
Pichai is in Washington to address Google’s work in China, where it’s reportedly planning a censored search engine that would comply with the Chinese government’s strict laws for internet use. The Intercept reported Wednesday the company is performing something of a performance review of the project, code-named Dragonfly.
CNBC reported Pichai would be meeting with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen. Joseph Dunford, but his meeting with the President had not been previously reported.
“We were pleased to have productive conversations with the President about investing in the future of the American workforce, the growth of emerging technologies and our ongoing commitment to working with the U.S. government,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
The meeting appears to be a positive step for the Google executive, who has drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers for what they claim is political bias across Google’s platforms. Trump previously said the company, along with Facebook and Twitter, was “treading on very, very troubled territory.”
Pichai declined to appear before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in September, leaving only an empty chair to sit alongside Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Pichai ended up testifying in December of last year. The meetings in Washington this week could make some necessary amends.
A group of state attorneys general, charged by then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to review antitrust concerns among Big Tech, have reportedly focused their efforts on Google in particular.
—CNBC’s Lauren Feiner contributed to this report.
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