Former Google (NASDAQ:) CEO Eric Schmidt expressed his views on a variety of topics in a discussion led by Professor Erik Brynjolfsson and students from Stanford University.
Among other things, Schmidt suggested that investors should “know what to do in the stock market” given that some $300 billion in hardware capital expenditures are headed to Nvidia (NASDAQ:).
On why Google is falling behind in the race for generative ai technology, Schmidt pointed to the company's emphasis on work-from-home arrangements and flexible schedules as the key reason for its current position behind competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Schmidt, who led Google from 2001 to 2011 and served as chief executive until 2015, highlighted a shift in the company's priorities, suggesting that Google has placed a higher value on work-life balance than on leading the competitive ai industry.
He contrasted this approach with that of start-ups, where a more intensive work ethic is common.
When Brynjolfsson asked Google CEO Sundar Pichai for clarification on this issue, he did not receive a definitive answer.
This prompted Schmidt's explanation, where he criticized remote work culture and praised the return to office work in 2022 for its professional benefits and its role in developing management skills among younger workers.
He argued that for startups looking to compete with established startups, a more traditional office-based working model is essential.
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