Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Blames Remote Work for Company's AI Lag

Google's ex-CEO blames 'work from home' for Google "falling" behind in AI race, here's what he said - Times of India

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has blamed the search giant's lagging performance in the artificial intelligence race to its prioritisation of remote work and work-life balance over competitive drive. Speaking at Stanford University, Schmidt criticised Google's approach, suggesting it has allowed startups like OpenAI and Anthropic to gain a significant edge in AI development. "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning," Schmidt told students. "And the reason the startups work is because the people work like hell." Stanford ECON295/CS323 I 2024 I The Age of AI, Eric Schmidt Schmidt, who led Google from 2001 to 2011, emphasised the intensity required to compete in the fast-paced tech industry. He argued that allowing employees to work from home and maintain flexible schedules has hindered Google's ability to innovate at the same rate as its more agile competitors. "I'm sorry to be so blunt, but the fact of the matter is, if you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups," Schmidt added. Schmidt has previously voiced strong support for in-office work, arguing that it's crucial for building effective management and fostering innovation. In an April 2022 interview with CNBC, he emphasized the importance of face-to-face interactions, stating, "I don't know how you build great management" in a virtual environment. However, Google's current work policies differ from Schmidt's characterization. The company reportedly requires most employees to work from the office at least three days a week and has begun tracking office attendance as part of performance reviews. The former executive's comments come as Google faces mounting pressure in the AI field. Despite the company's early breakthroughs, including significant advancements in 2017, Google has struggled to maintain its lead against emerging AI companies, as the likes of OpenAI which sent a "red alert" at Google HQ when it launched ChatGPT, with founder Sergey Bin coming back to help Google in its AI efforts. The TOI Tech Desk is a dedicated team of journalists committed to delivering the latest and most relevant news from the world of technology to readers of The Times of India. TOI Tech Desk's news coverage spans a wide spectrum across gadget launches, gadget reviews, trends, in-depth analysis, exclusive reports and breaking stories that impact technology and the digital universe. Be it how-tos or the latest happenings in AI, cybersecurity, personal gadgets, platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and more; TOI Tech Desk brings the news with accuracy and authenticity.

Google's ex-CEO blames remote working on the company's AI woes

Google's former CEO Eric Schmidt has a complaint about his old stomping ground -- and it's one that workers have heard on repeat for the past two years: They aren't working in the office enough. Schmidt, who left Google for good in 2020, blasted the company's working-from-home policy during a recent talk at Stanford University, while claiming it's the reason why the search engine giant is lagging behind in the AI race. "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning," Schmidt told Stanford students. "And the reason startups work is because the people work like hell." "I'm sorry to be so blunt," Schmidt continued in the video posted on Stanford's YouTube channel on Tuesday. "But the fact of the matter is, if you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not gonna let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups." Schmidt made the remarks in response to a question from professor Erik Brynjolfsson about how Google have lost the lead in AI to startups like OpenAI and Anthropic. "I asked [Google CEO] Sundar [Pichai] this, he didn't really give me a very sharp answer. Maybe you have a sharper or a more objective explanation for what's going on there," Brynjolfsson posed to the former Google boss. Fortune has contacted Schmidt and Google for comment. Schmidt, who led Google from 2001 to 2011, before handing the reins back to the search giant's co-founder Larry Page, stayed on as Google's executive chairman and technical advisor until 2020. Since then, the world of work has undergone a significant transformation. Despite the dangers of the pandemic being long behind us, companies are largely still operating remotely -- at least for part of the week. In fact, a study from KPMG recently revealed that CEOs who believe office workers will be back at their desks five days a week in the near future are now in the small minority. It's worth highlighting that Schmidt's one-day-a-week remark is an exaggeration: Like most firms, Google has asked workers to come into offices around three days a week, per the company's 2022 Diversity Annual Report. More recently, Google has even begun formally tracking office badge swipes and using it as a metric in performance reviews. However, Schmidt should note that employee backlash from rigid return-to-office mandates could actually wipe out any productivity gains in Google's AI department. Schmidt's not the first leader to complain that working from home kills innovation. However, CEOs who order their staff to work from an office five days à la pre-pandemic risk having fewer staff around to innovate. Reams of research suggest that workers would quit their jobs if forced to return to their company's vertical towers. Meanwhile, leaders who have already enforced an RTO mandate have admitted they experienced more attrition than they anticipated and are struggling with recruitment. Elon Musk, for one, has been an outspoken advocate for in-office work -- he quickly found out that employees will call their bosses ultimatum to commute to work or find another job. Twitter's (now X) operations were put at risk soon after he took over when more workers than expected chose to quit rather than answer Musk's call to go "hardcore". Plus, even if employees don't quit in anger, they'll likely have less zing for their jobs: A staggering 99% of companies with RTO mandates have seen a drop in engagement. Either way, Google's lack of innovation in the AI department can't be down to staff working from home more than those at OpenAI -- they have the same 3-day in-office policy.

Former CEO Eric Schmidt blames 'Work from home' for Google's lagging AI performance: Report

Schmidt, who helmed Google from 2001 to 2011, expressed concern that Google's focus on flexible work arrangements has allowed rival startups like OpenAI and Anthropic to outpace it in AI development, as per the report. According to Schmidt, these startups, driven by relentless work ethics, have gained a substantial advantage over Google. "Google chose to prioritize a relaxed work environment, which has hindered its innovation capabilities," Schmidt stated. "In contrast, emerging companies are thriving because their teams are working with intense dedication." Reportedly, the former executive, who has long championed the value of in-office work, argued that the shift towards remote and flexible schedules has hampered Google's ability to stay competitive. Schmidt's critique underscores his belief in the necessity of rigorous work culture to maintain a leading position in the fast-evolving tech industry. "If you want to compete effectively, you need to enforce a work environment that fosters constant collaboration and innovation," he advised. Despite Schmidt's comments, Google's current policies reflect a compromise between remote work and in-office presence. Employees are required to be in the office at least three days a week, with attendance now being part of performance assessments. Schmidt's remarks come as Google grapples with heightened competition in the AI field. Although the company made significant early strides in AI, including key breakthroughs in 2017, it has struggled to keep pace with newer entrants like OpenAI, which notably prompted a high-stakes response from Google upon launching ChatGPT. In light of these challenges, Google has reinvigorated its AI efforts with the return of founder Sergey Brin to bolster its competitive stance. 3.6 Crore Indians visited in a single day choosing us as India's undisputed platform for General Election Results. Explore the latest updates here!

Eric Schmidt says Google is falling behind on AI -- and remote work is wh

"Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning," Schmidt said at a talk at Stanford University. "The reason startups work is because the people work like hell." Schmidt made the comments earlier at a wide-ranging discussion at Stanford. His remarks about Google's remote-work policies were in response to a question about Google competing with OpenAI. Video of the talk was posted this week by Stanford Online, a division of the university which offers online courses. Google, a unit of Alphabet, and a representative for Schmidt didn't respond to requests for comment. He joins a long list of corporate leaders, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Tesla CEO Elon Musk who have complained about work-from-home policies, saying they make companies less efficient and less competitive. Dimon said in an annual letter a few years ago that people in the upper ranks "cannot lead from behind a desk or in front of a screen." Musk has said workers need "a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week." Companies have sometimes struggled to get employees back in the office, citing long commutes and caregiving duties. In some cases, employees have pushed back against the mandates. The former Google CEO told the students that in-office work was necessary to succeed in a hypercompetitive startup environment. "If you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups," Schmidt said. Google has been playing defense on AI ever since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022. The company stumbled earlier this year with the release of its Gemini chatbot, which was met with criticism that it was biased. The company has beefed up Gemini and will offer it on the company's four new Pixel phones. It features an improved humanlike voice assistant with natural conversation skills. Google has gotten stricter about employees' time in the office. Last year, it started including office attendance as a factor in annual performance reviews. In 2022, the company said employees would be back to the office three days a week.

Ex-Google CEO blames 'work from home' for company losing in AI race. Netizens school him

Schmidt's statement did not go down well with the netizens who slammed him for being myopic in his worldview, especially when Google was facing other issues Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has blamed 'work from home' as the reason for the company's lagging performance in the artificial intelligence (AI) race. Schmidt said the search engine giant had let go of its lead in the field after it started prioritising work-life balance and remote working. Schmidt led Google as the CEO between 2001 and 2011 and later as executive chairperson until 2015. He has repeatedly raised concerns over the remote work culture prevalent in the industry after the COVID-19 pandemic. "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning. And the reason the startups work is because the people work like hell," Schmidt said in a video going viral on social media. "I'm sorry to be so blunt, but the fact of the matter is, if you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups," Schmidt added. However, Schmidt's statement did not go down well with the netizens who slammed him for being myopic in his worldview, especially when Google was facing other issues. One of the users said: "They are losing because they embraced bureaucracy and politics a long time ago. They actively hate half their customers and product is not the first thing on their minds." While Schmidt had a go at his former company, reports state that Google mandates its employees to come to the office three days in a five-day workweek. Additionally, the company has started closely monitoring office attendance to give annual appraisals.

'Work from home' culture hindered Google's ability to innovate: Ex-CEO

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has made a sensational claim regarding the search giant saying the company did not anticipate the early rise of ChatGPT and generative AI because its employees "prioritised working from home". He also blamed Google's lagging performance in the AI race on its prioritisation of work-life balance over competitive drive.

Google is wrong to let staff leave early, says former boss

Eric Schmidt claims tech giant's policies are harming its ability to compete against rivals Google lost ground to rivals by letting staff leave the office early and work from home, the company's former chief executive has said. Eric Schmidt, who led Google until 2011 and was its chairman until 2015, told students at Stanford University in April that the company was struggling against new rivals such as OpenAI because of its work culture. "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning," he said in a recording of the talk published on YouTube this week. "And the reason the startups work is because the people work like hell." The video has since been removed. After embracing remote working during the pandemic, Google has struggled to coax workers back to the office. Last summer, it tightened up its hybrid working policy, ordering staff back to the office three days a week and including attendance in performance reviews. The tech giant was caught off guard by the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT bot when it launched in late 2022, prompting an AI arms race between the two companies to release new products. Google later declared a "code red" internally as it rushed to launch its own AI chatbot tools and challenge ChatGPT. Google has since developed its own rival AI offering, Gemini, but it has faced a series of embarrassing gaffs since its launch - giving incorrect answers and generating historically incorrect and offensive images. Mr Schmidt, who has a net worth of $30bn (£23bn), said: "The fact of the matter is, if you all leave the university and go found a company, you're not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups." Mr Schmidt, 69, later rowed back on his comments, telling the Wall Street Journal he "misspoke". Mr Schmidt also encouraged students to play fast and loose with copyright rules when launching a startup. He told the students: "If TikTok is banned, here's what I propose each and every one of you do: Say to your [AI] the following: Make me a copy of TikTok, steal all the users, steal all the music, put my preferences in it, produce this program in the next 30 seconds." He later added that Silicon Valley companies could simply "hire a whole bunch of lawyers to go clean the mess up".