Eric Schmidt, former Google Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and chairman, has said that the reason the tech giant was falling behind OpenAI and other startups in the artificial intelligence race is because it supports remote work and work-life balance. Mr Schmidt was speaking to students at Stanford University when he was asked about the lead that startups like OpenAI and Anthropic currently have over Google when it comes to AI. "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early, and working from home, was more important than winning. And the startups, the reason startups work is the people work like hell," he said.
"I'm sorry to be s blunt. 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," Mr Schmidt added.
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The former Google executive said that there is a history of dominant tech companies missing out on the next wave of the industry. He also supported the importance of "crazy ideas" and founders like Elon Musk who insist on their employees working from the office.
On social media, users disagreed with Mr Schmidt. "Lmao I was just listening to this and getting mad. It's the remote workers who are to blame for their AI generating diverse nazis, not the leadership of course," wrote one user.
"Working like hell from home. I think you can have it both ways if you try, flexibility and excellence! Can't compromise peoples family life by requiring extra from them... Google would be a massive talent drain <50% return to office? So short sighted can't see past the valley!" said another.
"You can't make a case against remote work if your offices are in areas that are virtually unaffordable and have such little inventory of houses that there is a housing crisis," commented a third.
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Notably, Google has made it clear that it wants it employees to return to the office. According to Business Insider, the tech giant is currently working on a hybrid model where they spend "approximately three days in the office and two days wherever they work best - whether that's at the office or at home".
Meanwhile, Mr Schmidt is not the only executive who thinks remote working has hurt business. Jaime Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, has been an outspoken advocate for staff to head back to the office.
"It doesn't work for younger kids in apprenticeships, it doesn't really work for creativity and spontaneity, it doesn't really work for management teams," he said.
