India is deeply within me says Google CEO

Google Ceo Sundar Pichai, born in Tamil Nadu and raised in Chennai, has recently said that India is deeply rooted in him and that it will always be a big part of who he is in an in-depth interview with BBC.

The interview took place at the Google headquarters in Silicon Valley, California. A wide range of topics were covered which included the current threat to the free and open internet, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, reports The Economics Times. 

"I'm an American citizen but India is deeply within me. So it's a big part of who I am," Pichai, 49, said when asked about his roots.

"I view it [artificial intelligence] as the most profound technology that humanity will ever develop and work on. You know, if you think about fire or electricity or the internet, it's like that. But I think even more profound," said Pichai, the CEO of Google

When asked about the Chinese model of the internet, Pichai commented that the free and open internet "is being attacked". While he didn't refer to China directly, he said: "None of our major products and services are available in China."

The controversial tax issue was also brought up during the interview to which he replied, "We are one of the world's largest taxpayers, if you look at on an average over the last decade, we have paid over 20 percent in taxes. We do pay the majority of our share of taxes in the US, where we originate and where our products are developed. I think there are good conversations and we support the global OECD conversations figuring out what is the right way to allocate taxes, this is beyond a single company to solve."

He was also asked about his own personal tech habits and encouraged everyone to adopt "two-factor authentication" when it comes to passwords to ensure multiple protections and admitted he is constantly changing his phone to test out new technology.