Google is making its biggest investment ever in Australia
Google is making its largest-ever investment in Australia, after a clash with the government that saw the tech giant threaten to shut down search there earlier this year.
CEO Sundar Pichai announced Monday that the company would devote 1 billion Australian dollars (about $736 million) to the country over the next five years.
The funds will go, in part, toward launching the firm's first research hub in Australia, as well as helping develop the nation's cloud computing sector.
Google (GOOGL) also plans to team up with an Australian government agency on scientific research, which will include projects on clean energy and protection of the Great Barrier Reef. Additionally, the firm will partner with a local university on quantum computing.
Google, which has been in Australia for two decades and now employs nearly 2,000 people locally, said that the new initiative is expected to help create new jobs and spur innovation.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison praised the move Tuesday, calling it "a $1 billion vote of confidence" in Australia's economic strategy. Morrison's government has previously outlined plans to turn Australia into "a top digital economy by 2030," working to bolster its capabilities in artificial intelligence, among other areas.
Speaking at a Google office in Sydney on Tuesday, Morrison emphasized that the plan "doesn't mean we're trying to be the next Silicon Valley."
But he said that the company's program would help create more than 6,000 jobs and add about 6.7 billion Australian dollars ($4.9 billion) of value to the economy.
"Our challenge, as we emerge from this pandemic in a very challenging world, is to secure Australia's economic recovery," Morrison added. "That is the challenge we face as we move into 2022, and Australia's digital strategy is central to securing that recovery."
Turning the page
Google's bet on Australia appears to somewhat reset the complicated relationship it's had with the country's users and government in recent months.
The company has in the past publicly tussled with regulators over legislation that requires both Google and Facebook (FB) to pay publishers for news content.
For months, Google vehemently argued against the proposed law. At one point last year, it even used its homepage to warn Australians that the proposed law would harm their ability to search and lead to "consequences" for YouTube users. Regulators at the time accused the company of spreading "misinformation."
Tensions came to a head in January, when the company threatened to pull its search engine in the country if the law moved forward.
But as a vote on the bill approached, Google took a different tack. It tried to get ahead of the legislation by announcing partnerships with some of the country's largest newsrooms, including Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NWS) and Seven West Media.
Meanwhile, the spotlight largely turned to Facebook, which abruptly banned news content in Australia in February over the proposed law.
Facebook later restored access to those pages after Australia made some changes to the code.
The law was ultimately passed in February, with Google's strategy cheered by media organizations and politicians alike.
Morrison addressed some of the company's past issues on Tuesday, saying "the fact that Google has decided to invest in the way that they have ... seals [our] partnership."
"We have already worked together with the tech sector on so many fronts, and there are so many more that we need to work on," he said.
— Hilary Whiteman contributed to this report.
谷歌正在澳大利亚进行有史以来最大的投资
在与政府发生冲突后，谷歌正在澳大利亚进行有史以来最大的投资，该科技巨头今年早些时候威胁要关闭那里的搜索。
首席执行官 Sundar Pichai 周一宣布，该公司将在未来五年内向该国投入 10 亿澳元（约合 7.36 亿美元）。
这笔资金将部分用于在澳大利亚启动该公司的第一个研究中心，以及帮助发展该国的云计算部门。
谷歌 (GOOGL) 还计划与澳大利亚政府机构合作开展科学研究，其中将包括清洁能源和保护大堡礁的项目。此外，该公司将与当地一所大学合作进行量子计算。
谷歌在澳大利亚已有 20 年历史，目前在当地拥有近 2,000 名员工，该公司表示，这项新举措有望帮助创造新的就业机会并刺激创新。
澳大利亚总理斯科特·莫里森周二赞扬了这一举措，称其为澳大利亚经济战略“投出10亿澳元的信任票”。莫里森政府此前曾概述了将澳大利亚转变为“到 2030 年成为顶级数字经济体”的计划，致力于加强其在人工智能等领域的能力。
周二，莫里森在悉尼的谷歌办公室发表讲话时强调，该计划“并不意味着我们正在努力成为下一个硅谷”。
但他表示，该公司的计划将有助于创造 6,000 多个工作岗位，并为经济增加约 67 亿澳元（49 亿美元）的价值。
莫里森补充说：“当我们在一个充满挑战的世界中摆脱这场大流行病时，我们面临的挑战是确保澳大利亚的经济复苏。” “这是我们进入 2022 年时面临的挑战，而澳大利亚的数字战略对于确保复苏至关重要。”
翻页
谷歌对澳大利亚的押注似乎在一定程度上重置了最近几个月它与该国用户和政府之间的复杂关系。
该公司过去曾公开与监管机构就立法要求谷歌和 Facebook (FB) 向出版商支付新闻内容费用。
几个月来，谷歌强烈反对拟议中的法律。去年的某个时候，它甚至使用其主页警告澳大利亚人，拟议的法律将损害他们的搜索能力并导致 YouTube 用户的“后果”。当时的监管机构指责该公司散布“错误信息”。
紧张局势在 1 月份达到顶峰，当时该公司威胁说，如果法律向前推进，将在该国撤出其搜索引擎。
但随着对该法案的投票临近，谷歌采取了不同的策略。它试图通过宣布与该国一些最大的新闻编辑室建立合作伙伴关系，包括鲁珀特默多克的新闻集团 (NWS) 和七个西方媒体，来领先立法。
与此同时，焦点主要转向了 Facebook，该公司在 2 月份因拟议的法律突然禁止了澳大利亚的新闻内容。
在澳大利亚对代码进行了一些更改后，Facebook 后来恢复了对这些页面的访问。
这项法律最终在 2 月份获得通过，谷歌的战略得到了媒体组织和政界人士的一致好评。
莫里森周二谈到了公司过去的一些问题，称“谷歌决定按照他们的方式进行投资的事实……确定了 [我们] 的合作伙伴关系。”
“我们已经在很多方面与科技部门合作，还有很多我们需要努力，”他说。
— 希拉里怀特曼为本报告做出了贡献。
