Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Google Search chief Amit Singhal announced his decision to retire from his position after serving the company for fifteen years. According to him, his last day in the company would be on February 26.
Mr. Singhal joined Google in 2000 and led the technical development of the company’s search engine. He was known for rewriting the company’s page ranking algorithm in 2001. He was also among the drivers of the Star Trek ambitions of Google.
In a blog post, Mr. Singhal said his next journey would be to engage in philanthropy. He wrote, “As I entered the fifteenth year of working at Google, I’ve been asking myself the question, “what would you want to do for the next fifteen?” The answer has overwhelmingly been: give back to others. It has always been a priority for me to give back to people who are less fortunate, and make time for my family amidst competing work constraints–but on both fronts, I simply want to give and do more.”
Google Search is now stronger than ever
Mr. Singhal added that now is a good time for him to change his life citing the reason that Google Search is stronger than ever. He is confident that it would improve further in the hands of outstanding set of senior leaders, who are already overseeing its daily operations.
“When I started, who would have imagined that in a short period of fifteen years, we would tap a button, ask Google anything and get the answer. Today, it has become second nature to us. My dream Star Trek computer is becoming a reality, and it is far better than what I ever imagined,” said Mr. Singhal.
Google Artificial Intelligence Chief to replace Singhal
John Giannandrea, the chief or artificial intelligence (AI) of the search engine giant, will takeover Mr. Singhal’s position.
Technology observers believe that Mr. Giannadrea would be able to make Google search even smarter given his expertise in artificial intelligence. He supervised the company’s recent artificial intelligence efforts including the RankBrain, an AI technology integrated on the company’s search engine to boost the accuracy of results from inquiries.
Giannandrea joined Google in 2010 when it acquired Metaweb Technologies, a company he co-founded. His new title would be vice president of engineering
Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently stated that AI technology is a major part of the company’s recent efforts in search on mobile devices and personal assistant technologies.
“The next wave will be powered by big advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, an area where we believe we lead the industry,” said Pichai during the recent earnings call of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), the parent holding company of the search engine giant.
