Google CEO urges US to increase cybersecurity spends, speed up tech regulations

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, yesterday, called for the creation of a standard federal privacy law in the US, similar to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe. Talking at a Technology conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Pichai said that the US government had to invest heavily in areas of cybersecurity, quantum computing and artificial intelligence, amid China making rapid progress and moving away from the western market. 

The European Union’s GDPR is often seen as a benchmark for data privacy and security laws around the world. It imposes obligations on organisations anywhere globally, as long as the data collected is related to the people in the European Union. Policy experts in India have also recommended that the country’s upcoming Personal Data Privacy (PDP) bill should look for synergies with the GDPR. If a federal law is implemented in the US, it could impact global markets such as India and others as well.

China has implemented a number of regulations against technology monopolies, mainly aimed to limit collection of customer data and create new rules in data security. The country’s rules led technology major Microsoft to shut professional social networking service LinkedIn in the Chinese market earlier this week.

Pichai said more Western tech from China like this will become more common. It is pertinent to mention here that Google does not operate most of its services in China, and is competing against players in China who are building their own quantum and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to provide them as services to other geographies.

“When I look at semiconductors and quantum, the government can play a key role, both in terms of policies and allowing us to bring in the best talent from anywhere in the world,” Pichai said.