August 15, 2024 Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently sparked controversy during a talk at Stanford University by blaming Google’s struggles on the company’s remote work policies. He claimed that Google prioritized work-life balance over competitive success, a statement that drew immediate attention online. The video of the talk, which was initially posted on YouTube, was quickly made private, possibly at Schmidt’s request. Schmidt later issued a statement expressing regret for his comments, acknowledging that he “misspoke” about Google’s work culture.

The video, however, had already gone viral, with a clip of Schmidt’s remarks accumulating 1.4 million views on social media. During the talk, Schmidt seemed to indicate that companies could somehow be successful by taking IP belonging to others and disguising it, comments that likely added to the controversy. His apparent surprise at the presence of cameras suggests he may not have intended for these remarks to be publicly broadcast, leading to further scrutiny of his statements and the decision to pull the video from public view.