Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees ahead of Election Day to make sure “the products we build” are “a trusted source of information to people of every background and belief.”
“As with other elections, the outcome will be a major topic of conversation in living rooms and other places around the world,” Pichai said in an internal memo on November 4th obtained by The Verge and first reported on by The Washington Post. “And of course, the outcome will have important consequences.”
“Whomever the voters entrust, let’s remember the role we play at work, through the products we build and as a business: to be a trusted source of information to people of every background and belief. We will and must maintain that.”
Naturally, Google has already had to contend with accusations of bias before the polls even close. Earlier on Tuesday, Elon Musk amplified a theory that Google was intentionally hiding a map of polling places from Trump voters while showing the map to those who searched “where can I vote for Harris.” The claim compelled Google to say that it had fixed a bug that displayed its polling map for searches with “Harris” and not Trump because her last name is also the name of a county in Texas.
You can read Pichai’s full memo to Google employees below:
Hi Googlers,
Tomorrow is election day here and many in the U.S. will be heading to the polls to vote for everything from school board to judges to the Congress and President.
Teams across Google and YouTube have been working hard to make sure our platforms provide voters with high-quality and reliable information, just as we’ve done for so many other elections around the world — in fact, dozens of countries have held major, hotly contested elections this year, from France to India to the UK to Mexico and many more, with well over a billion people casting votes in 2024.
We should be proud of our work, and also of our teams’ efforts to keep campaigns secure, to deliver accurate information on where and how to vote, and to provide digital advertising solutions to campaigns. Thanks to everyone working around the clock on these efforts throughout the campaign season and as votes are tallied.
As with other elections, the outcome will be a major topic of conversation in living rooms and other places around the world. And of course, the outcome will have important consequences.
Whomever the voters entrust, let’s remember the role we play at work, through the products we build and as a business: to be a trusted source of information to people of every background and belief. We will and must maintain that. In that spirit, it’s important that everyone continue to follow our Community Guidelines and Personal Political Activity Policy.
Beyond election day, our work to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful will continue. Al has given us a profound opportunity to make progress on that mission, build great products and partnerships, drive innovation, and make significant contributions to national and local economies. Our company is at its best when we’re focused on that.
Thanks, Sundar
Source: The Verge Google CEO says the company should be a ‘trusted source’ in the election