Google CEO Sundar Pichai denies efforts to tweak search results: Axios

(Reuters) - Google’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai denied reports of efforts to politically bias the company’s internet search results, Axios reported on Friday citing a memo.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks on stage during the annual Google I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

The Wall Street Journal citing internal emails reported on Thursday that the company’s staff discussed ways to alter search functions to counter the Trump administration’s 2017 travel ban.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks on stage during the annual Google I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, May 8, 2018. REUTERS/ Stephen Lam

The Journal’s report said Google did not go through with the ideas that were brainstormed.

According to Axios, Pichai wrote an email to “Googlers” saying an internal email to suggest the company would compromise the integrity of its search results for a political end were “absolutely false”.

“It’s important to me that our internal culture continues to reinforce our mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Recent news stories reference an internal email to suggest that we would compromise the integrity of our search results for a political end,” Pichai was quoted as saying by Axios.

Google was not immediately available for comment.

Reporting by Philip George in Bengaluru

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