Tim Cook And Sundar Pichai Speak At China’s World Internet Conference

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook along with Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai spoke at the 4th edition of the World Internet Conference held in China. Organized by the Cybersecurity Administration of China, the World Internet Conference is an annual gathering which promotes censored Internet under the premise of “cyber sovereignty.”

The presence of the CEOs of two of the biggest technology companies in the world highlighted the degree to which the Chinese government can exert political leverage over the world’s biggest tech companies. Tim Cook gave a surprise keynote speech at the conference and called for future internet and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to be infused with privacy, security and humanity. “Much has been said of the potential downsides of AI, but I don’t worry about machines thinking like humans. I worry about people thinking like machines. We all have to work to infuse technology with humanity, with our values,” he added.

This year marks Cooks second appearance in China after his meeting with President Xi Jinping in October this year. Currently, China is Apple’s second largest market in the world after North America. The company has been criticized for bowing to pressure by the Communist Party. Apple even removed hundreds of apps from its Chinese app store that help consumers jump the so called “Great Firewall” including Microsoft’s Skype. 

While the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai did not give a keynote speech, he appeared on a group panel alongside Xiaomi founder Lei Jun. Although a majority of Google’s services are blocked in China, Google helps many Chinese companies take their products outside China. Speaking about how Google helps Chinese economy, Pichai added, “A lot of work Google does is to help Chinese companies. Many small and medium sized businesses in China take advantage of Google to get their products to many other countries outside of China.” The company is also hiring more artificial intelligence talent from within China.

Cisco’s CEO Chuck Robbins, Alibaba’s Chairman Jack Ma and Tencent Holdings’ Pony Ma also took part in the conference along with Cook and Pichai. The event is an opportunity for China’s main internet regulator to seek public affirmation for China’s internet policies.