Tencent Gigant is one of the potential partners in China
Google's plans for China are even more ambitious than previously thought.
The online giant is negotiating with Tencent Holdings, Inspur Group and other Chinese companies to offer their cloud services in the world's second largest economy, according to people familiar with the discussions. Discussions began in early 2018, and Google has reduced the bidding partners to three firms by the end of March, according to one person. Trade tensions between China and the US now haunt the initiative, leaving little clarity about the possibility of advancing the plan, the person said.
The information comes to light a few days after the revelation that Google is developing a version of its search engine for China that would block information that the Beijing government considers delicate.
If implemented, the ruling would mark a drastic change in the Alphabet unit, which left mainland China in 2010 for refusing to comply with the country's censorship practices. The prospect of one of America's most powerful corporations bowing to China's will has led to immediate condemnation in Washington.
"It is a coup that the Chinese government and the Communist Party compel Google - the world's largest search engine - to meet its onerous censorship requirements and that sets a worrying precedent for other companies seeking to do business in China without compromising its core values, "wrote six US lawmakers, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio, in a letter to Google's chief executive, Sundar Pichai.
The goal of the cloud initiative is to run Google's internet-based services through data centers and home servers from Chinese providers, which is similar to how other US cloud companies access the market. Elsewhere in the world, Google Cloud often rents computing and storage power over the Internet and sells a collection of enterprise productivity applications called the G Suite, which runs on its own data centers.
China demands that digital information be stored in the country and Google does not have data centers in mainland China, so it needs partnerships with local actors.
Google Cloud chief Diane Greene said last week she wanted the deal to "be a global cloud," but declined to comment specifically on China. Still, the company seeks a business development manager in Shanghai for its cloud business. The job listing lists "experience and knowledge about the Chinese market" as necessary qualifications.
A Google Cloud spokesman declined to comment. Inspur and Jane Yip, a Tencent spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Friday.
A partnership with major Chinese tech companies such as Tencent and Inspur would also give Google powerful allies as the company seeks a broader return to mainland China, where it withdrew its search engine in 2010 because of concerns over censorship.
--With the collaboration of Erik Wasson.
No comments:
Post a Comment