Discussion

• @hyoun.park.tech @hyoun.park.tech on threads

  The honest truth is that Google probably has more firepower and a better understanding of AI than OpenAI.  And Google works more collective hours.  But Google desperately needs some product launching & actual product management DNA & to actively destroy the current company polici…

• @brandonlive Brandon Paddock on threads

  This is an extra weird thing to say given that Microsoft is about the most remote-work-friendly company around.

• @erinmcunningham Erin Cunningham on threads

  Winning is having more time for your family/hobbies, not spending it rapidly developing a technology that will ultimately wipe us out.

• @alexhcranz Alex Cranz on threads

  I actually like how honest folks like Schmidt are becoming because it removes that altruism shine to show that these guys are just normal big business guys.

• @crumbler Casey Newton on threads

  This is not the sort of thing you say on accident!  Schmidt is fully in the mainstream of what CEOs think about remote work here

• @microh.bsky.social MicRoh on bluesky

  It's nice that he wants to look like a normal person instead of a monster.  [embedded post]

• @alexkehr Alex Kehr on x

  In a Stanford talk posted today, Eric Schmidt says the reason why Google is losing to @OpenAI and other startups is because Google only has people coming in 1 day per week 👀 [video]

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x

  It goes without saying that the reason Open AI out-innovated Google in AI despite Google being the pioneer is due to the Innovator's Dilemma not remote work policies. /cc Eric Schmidt

• @giffmana Lucas Beyer on x

  Guess the gang and i are doing something wrong then...

• @tunguz Bojan Tunguz on x

  Cope. I know one large tech company that is bigger than Google and keeps on winning while not sacrificing any work life balance.

• @buccocapital @buccocapital on x

  Jensen Huang and his 100 direct reports, many of whom work remote, are all laughing in Eric Schmidt's face

• @alexeheath Alex Heath on x

  It appears as though Schmidt didn't want this comment to make headlines (way too late) and perhaps wasn't aware the talk would be published — later on you can see him realize there are cameras in the room. Stanford has taken the full talk down from its YouTube channel.

• @pearlf Pearl Freier on x

  Reminder that no talks or presentations given to a crowd, classroom or auditorium are off the record or private:

• @thebenbergman Ben Bergman on x

  Eric Schmidt the past month: From messy affairs to WFH, a walking PR disaster.

• @tomgara Tom Gara on x

  Isn't Eric Schmidt kind of famously known for having a, lets call it...vigorous....commitment to work/life balance?

• @grady_booch Grady Booch on x

  Hey @ericschmidt, perhaps - and stick with me here for a moment - the root cause is that @google's management completely misfired in establishing a vision and its execution? https://www.msn.com/...

• @adamrackis Adam Rackis on x

  Yeah sure that's it, not anything to do with the rolling layoffs or killing every single project you start lmfao

• @alexeheath Alex Heath on x

  @PearlF He very clearly said “this is off record” while saying later that startups can just steal “IP” for AI training and hire lawyers to clean it up. The prof interviewing him quickly reminded him there were cameras recording

• @dscheinm Dan Scheinman on x

  Everyone has an opinion on Google in the wake of Eric Schmidt comments. I have one story. I once interviewed a Google VP who had about 1500 people under them. I asked how many people they had fired for non-performance in last 2 years. Zero. Was not culturally appropriate.

• @lutherlowe Luther Lowe on x

  Looks like Schmidt walks it back. So they get to have their cake and eat it too. At least the analysts aren't fooled. The WSJ piece should really have a line about how it's *very* convenient for Google to be perceived as weak right now. @jdeavila @dseetharaman [image]

• @arpan_shah_ Arpan Shah on x

  The fact that people barely come in to the office or don't need to work hard, while an exaggeration, is the biggest sign of how amazing Google is as a business at generating cash. It is probably the most wildly successful monopoly in a long time, which is amazing for employees.

• @webaficionado @webaficionado on x

  What dragged me to the office was the infectious energy and sense of belonging displayed by my team, which, in most cases, led to exceptional execution. I'm not entirely sure if the remote work setup can match these feelings.

• @doomie Dumitru Erhan on x

  Absolute garbage take, on every single dimension.

• @rubinovitz JB Rubinovitz on x

  Every talented engineer I know leaves Google openly saying it's because they spent >50% of their time fighting politics and bureaucracy, But sure the enemy is remote work, not a culture of zero sum power games.

• @jason_kint Jason Kint on x

  100% agree. Schmidt is absolutely trying to set up an argument that Google isn't a position of massive advantage due to compute+capex BUT ALSO QUERY SCALE to entrench its dominance in AI as spelled out in last week's decision. He needs political ammo to hold off DOJ breakup push.

• @0xkarmatic Karma on x

  Lmao, sure that's the reason. Not the fact that Noam tried to create Lamda (pre-ChatGPT) and the executives culled the launch due to safety reasons in 2018. It's the management class that was the problem at Google, Eric. Not the ICs.

• @krishnanrohit Rohit on x

  Sigh. The slightest bit of introspection would be useful here. This demonization of where you sit when you work is nothing but an easy target to blame, when the actual secret is that the company got big and fat.

• @lutherlowe Luther Lowe on x

  [Deleted tweet] False flag.  Helps Google to pretend like OpenAl won.  Makes it seem like no US v Google antitrust remedy needed if it's already a dinosaur being eaten bv the voungling.

• @aaronerickson Aaron Erickson on x

  @Noahpinion To be fair, he has no fucking idea what he is talking about. NVIDIA is a strong WFH culture, and we're doing just fine.

• @tsarnick @tsarnick on x

  Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says Google lost its competitive edge when it decided that employees working from home and going home early was more important than winning [video]

• @noahpinion Noah Smith on x

  Even Google people now stereotype Google as “the place where nobody does any work” 😭

• @deedydas Deedy on x

  Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, openly says what we all know — Googlers don't really work and they come in 1 day a week.

• @pkedrosky Paul Kedrosky on x

  Eric Schmidt could say “1 + 2 = 3” in public and I'd be reconsidering my prior confidence in “3” being correct. There is this new video of him on AI and the future, and his glib comments on Canadian hydropower alone nearly made me lose my mind.

• @patrickbetdavid @patrickbetdavid on x

  “Google decided that work life balance was more important than winning”. Former Google CEO reveals the reason Google is losing to OpenAI. What he said was considered controversial during the pandemic. Now self evident. Good for @ericschmidt [video]

• @firstadopter Tae Kim on x

  Womp. Womp. They pulled Eric Schmidt's Google doesn't work hard enough versus startups video. [image]

• @jeff_burke14 Jeff Burke on x

  In my opinion, one of the biggest misconceptions of SV is work-life balance. Big Tech food, nap pods, and chill workdays now paint an easy picture. But most of those companies were built with crazy hours and grit. And the startups today require the same.

• @yacinemtb Kache on x

  there is extremely small minority of people that work remotely and go to war when they do work remotely

• @dangrover Dan Grover on x

  I don't know about Google, but bulk of my FB experience was a lot of furiously working long hours on things that largely ultimately only made sense in an internal frame of reference. I think there is an abundance of hustle in FANGs but for the wrong things.

• @martymadrid @martymadrid on x

  @alexkehr @OpenAI Eric Schmidt joined Google over two decades ago. The reason Google is losing is because the scrappy upstart Google of then isn't the same as the publicly traded corporation of Alphabet today. It's just not the same organization, the same type of organism.

• @kazanjy Peter Kazanjy on x

  Eric Schmidt just ROASTING Google's WFH culture.

• @vikhyatk Vik on x

  best talk i've seen in a long time. study it carefully, and do the exact opposite of everything he recommends

• r/technology r on reddit

  Eric Schmidt Walks Back Claim Google Is Behind on AI Because of Remote Work

• r/technews r on reddit

  Ex-Google CEO: AI startups can steal IP, hire lawyers to “clean up the mess” - The Verge

• r/technology r on reddit

  Ex-Google CEO says successful AI startups can steal IP and hire lawyers to ‘clean up the mess’

• r/digitalnomad r on reddit

  Google's former CEO says the tech giant is losing out to OpenAI and Anthropic because staff are working from home