Billionaire Peter Thiel to Google CEO Sundar Pichai: 3 questions on China that need answers
Peter Thiel, the billionaire founder of PayPal and Facebook board member, told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that he would like Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai to answer three questions about the tech giant's relationship with China, if he had the chance to ask him.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 169.06 | -6.92 | -3.94% |
“I would say answer my three questions. How many foreign intelligence agencies have infiltrated Google? Have the Chinese, in particular, infiltrated? And why are you working with Communist China and not the U.S.? What is the reason you’re doing that?” Thiel told Carlson in an exclusive interview on Monday.
How many foreign intelligence agencies have infiltrated Google? Have the Chinese, in particular, infiltrated? And why are you working with Communist China and not the U.S.? What is the reason you’re doing that?”
The interview came after Thiel, who was an early supporter of President Trump, said on Sunday that the FBI and CIA should investigate whether Chinese intelligence has infiltrated Google while slamming the tech giant’s “treasonous” links to China. Theil made these remarks at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, D.C. on Sunday.
Carlson also noted that the questions Thiel raised, while important, are somewhat obvious and Thiel explained the role the agencies would play or are possibly playing already.
“It’s possible that there are people in the U.S. government looking into it and they haven’t told us. But yeah, I think the FBI and the CIA would be the natural places to look into it. The FBI would look at it from the domestic side; the CIA would look at it from the outside” he explained.
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Following Thiel's remarks on Sunday, Google reiterated that it does not have any dealings with the Chinese military. The company said Thiel’s allegations are false, but did not elaborate on the situation. Google representatives declined further comment.
Google shares were little changed on Monday and have gained 9.6 percent this year.
FOX Business' Thomas Barrabi contributed to this report.
Suzanne O'Halloran is Managing Editor of FOXBusiness.com and is a graduate of Boston College. Follow her on Twitter @suzohalloran