Google chief executive Sundar Pichai has tried to quell simmering discontent among the internet group’s staff over a potential relaunch of its search engine in China, telling employees on Thursday that the company was “not close” to launching the product.
Anger had risen following news earlier this month that Google has been secretly considering a relaunch of its search engine in China, with results on the mobile app likely to be censored in line with local internet restrictions.
The initiative, known internally as Dragonfly, is a sign of how Google’s approach to one of the world’s largest internet markets has evolved since it pulled out of China in 2010 over censorship concerns.