Google (GOOGL) has not yet said its last word. While its Silicon Valley rivals keep publicizing their efforts to dominate web3, the new iteration of the internet, the Mountain View, California-based company is not to be outdone, according to its CEO Sundar Pichai.
"We are definitely looking at blockchain and it's such an interesting and powerful technology with broad applications," Pichai said during the fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday. "So much broader again, than any one application so as a company, we're looking at how we might contribute to the ecosystem and add value."
This is the first time that Pichai has spoken on the subject. He was responding to a question from an analyst about Google's possible investments in web3 and blockchain.
"So we'll definitely be watching the space closely and supporting it where we can overall I think, technology will continue to evolve and innovate and, you know, we want to be pro innovation and approach it that way," Pichai added.
The executive also said that Google would notably invest in augmented reality (AR): "AR is a big one. We've been investing there for a long time and will continue to play a role," Pichai emphasized, adding that Google will bring Maps, Youtube into virtual worlds people will use in the future.
Many web3 champions oppose it to the current Internet, web2, judged centralized and dominated by a core of behemoths like Google and Meta (FB), formerly Facebook.
Image source: Google.
Google Cloud Could Accept Crypto
While the concept is still obscure, web3 is a decentralized internet built on the blockchain — unlike the current version, it has the potential to have "shares" that are owned by users in the form of cryptocurrency tokens.
Promoters say that it would be owned "by the people" and less dependent on corporate backing from the likes of companies like Meta and YouTube but, as Block (SQ) Jack Dorsey, ex-CEO of Twitter (TWTR), has pointed it out, it can instead be subject to the whims of wealthy entrepreneurs who have a lot more money to buy shares than the average person.
Microsoft (MSFT), Meta, Twitter, and a large number of technology companies and beyond are advancing their pawns and investing billions of dollars to become leading players in the web3.
This new iteration of the internet is already embraced by celebrities and athletes through NFTs, non-fungible tokens.
Google Cloud has recently launched a new enterprise that will focus on blockchain applications, such as blockchain transaction history for cryptocurrencies - bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin Cash, dash, litecoin, zcash, theta, hedera hashgraph, band protocol, polygon, XRP, and dogecoin.
Google Cloud is also exploring the possibility to enable its customers to make and receive payments using cryptocurrencies.
But this is different from Google Pay which only takes payments via fiat currencies.
