Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google Is in China Cloud Talks With Tencent, Others, Report Says (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the next-up dept.

Google wants to get back into China, and is laying the groundwork for a key part of the initiative: bringing its cloud business to the world's second-largest economy. Bloomberg: The internet giant is in talks with Tencent Holdings, Inspur Group and other Chinese companies to offer Google cloud services in the mainland, according to people familiar with the discussions. They asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The talks began in early 2018 and Google narrowed partnership candidates to three firms in late March, according to one of the people. Trade tensions between China and the U.S. now loom over the effort. It's unclear if the plans will proceed, this person said.

The goal is to run Google internet-based services -- such as Drive and Docs -- via the domestic data centers and servers of Chinese providers, similar to the way other U.S. cloud companies access that market. In most of the rest of the world, Google Cloud rents computing power and storage over the internet, and sells a collection of workplace productivity apps called G Suite that are run on its own data centers. China requires digital information to be stored in the country and Google has no data centers in the mainland, so it needs partnerships with local players. Further reading: Google Plans To Launch Censored Search Engine In China, Leaked Documents Reveal.

10 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. Google capitulated, but I think it's kind of late! by bogaboga · · Score: 1

    We all agree that Google finally succumbed to the whims of the Chinese.

    For Google to have any consequential initiatives in China, they will need to sort out their messaging regime. Without a WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat or even Telegram competitor, they (Google) are wasting time.

    Sadly, these "smart" minds at Google never seem to learn.

  2. Re:ls /.news | grep -vi 'cloud' | less by zlives · · Score: 1

    ls: cannot access /.news: No such file or directory

  3. Re:Google capitulated, but I think it's kind of la by zlives · · Score: 1

    why does google feel the need to capitulate? i blame pikachu.

  4. Re:Google capitulated, but I think it's kind of la by iggymanz · · Score: 1

    for google to have any consequential initiatives in a police state that censors oppression of minorities and other abuses, it has to join in the evildoing....

  5. very questionable priorities by hdyoung · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Google refuses to work with the U.S. military, but they're going all-in on China and implementing their censorship system. As a U.S. citizen, I'm starting to question their priorities.

    1. Re: very questionable priorities by hdyoung · · Score: 1

      I certainly hope that's what Google is planning. I also hope that their involvement in the China systems might give them insight into the Great Firewall that we might find useful. Maybe they just can't talk about this stuff in public. It looks bad, though.

      Ultimately, I think that Google is wasting time, money and effort trying to get into China. I would be amazed, absolutely amazed, if Google cracks even 1% of the Chinese search market. No matter what they give up. No matter what they agree to. The Chinese government really, really, really, really likes to have their nationally important businesses run by Chinese.

      There are a few exceptions to this. I don't really understand how American cars managed to get into China. I assume it was allowed because there are lots of other international competitors, and it's not really a point of national pride or interest. I assume that Iphones were let into China because, for a while at least, nobody made any product that even came close. But for internet search, there's already a Chinese national champion, plus it's considered a security/control issue. No way the government is going to give that up to Google.

  6. Engineering =/= Business by AtomicSymphonic · · Score: 1

    They are engineers, not businesspeople.

    An innate sense of good business is surprisingly not common among most people, in my experience. Engineers help build things, they don't build businesses.

    Why do you think Sergey and Larry had a "chaperone" of sorts in Eric Schmidt when their little search engine research project blew up in popularity in the last couple decades?

  7. Re:ls /.news | grep -vi 'cloud' | less by _Sharp'r_ · · Score: 1

    They could get five times the service level if they partnered with Curtis Jackson instead of that outfight not even worth two bits.

    --
    The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
  8. Google making it official... by Ritz_Just_Ritz · · Score: 1

    That doing evil is part of doing business. F Google.

  9. Google risks its US business by aberglas · · Score: 1

    The Chinese will want Google to adjust its US rankings in order to get more business in China. Google will resist, for a while. It will not be overt, just like the self censorship that stops one upsetting a customer.

    However, even the slightest hint of that type of malpractice will damage the Google brand. And an 1% loss of US business is far greater than anything they will actually get out of China.

    The other issue is that they will need lots of Chinese speaking employees or partners to make this work. And those people will learn far more about Google than Google will learn about China.

    Will Chinese search engines be able to take business in the USA? Not directly, but they may sell a service to other companies that decide to try. There is so much money in search that even someone as small as Duck Duck Go can make money.

    I was impressed when Google management said no to China some years ago. A wise, strategic decision.