In the inaugural Code Conference, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) cofounder Sergey Brin sat down with Re/code’s Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg to talk about security, the U.S. government and the NSA, mistakes, self-driving cars and how the company will operate them, competitors to Google X, and social, among other things. On the lighter side, the billionaire also spent time joking about invisibility cloaks, opening a chain of restaurants and having Swisher and Mossberg scrutinize executive meetings.
Brin touched on how Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has changed, noting that it has become very large and that there’s a discrepancy between points of view. He said that looking from the outside, the company has sort of come to be viewed as a Goliath while those from the inside still view the company as a David.
Asked whether he thinks the Mountain View, California-based company has been aggressive enough, he said that the company always has more that it can do. For example, he mentioned that they have a very large team working on security and that the company is also very active in the policy front.
Nonetheless, Brin also admitted that the company has not been perfect, but they strive to be. This is in reaction to the panel telling him that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) may seem hypocritical to some because they are fighting for the government to be more transparent in how they collect and process data from people whereas the company itself is comfortable using their users’ data. He stated that the search, advertising and mobile giant knows how important their users’ trust is and that they are very motivated to protect their users’ data and trust.
Meanwhile, Brin said during the interview that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) intends to initially operate its fleet of self-driving cars. When the area expands, he said that the search giant will likely look into partnering with “a lot of companies, possibly Uber”.
In terms of competitors, Brin says that he, as the person in charge of Google X, the company’s innovation lab, is in general not interested in doing things that are already being done by others.
As for social, Brin said he is probably not the best person to ask about the company’s efforts on that front.
Watch the video below where the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) cofounder also shows that he sometimes has great comedic timing.
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