INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Sundar Pichai is the new chief executive of Alphabet
Sundar Pichai, the
chief executive of Google, has been put in charge of its parent company Alphabet, after co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced
they were stepping down.The 47-year-old said the pair had set up a "strong foundation" on which he would "continue to build".Pichai's life
story is remarkable, and his rise to the top of Google is an endorsement of India's standing in the global technology industry - and
equally, a reassuring reminder of the so-called "American Dream".Pichai was born and schooled in Chennai, India
He captained his school's cricket team, leading it to win regional competitions.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Sundar Pichai giving a presentation in 2011
He studied Metallurgical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in
Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur)
According to one of his tutors, quoted in the Times of India, Pichai was the "brightest of his batch".He has evidently used his talent to
great effect at Google, which he joined in 2004
Products under his watch include Google's web browser, Chrome, as well as the Android mobile operating system.Android is by far the world's
most popular mobile operating system (OS) - a fact made perhaps more startling by the fact that Pichai's family did not possess a telephone
until he was 12 years old.According to a profile in Bloomberg magazine, Pichai's upbringing was humble
His family lived in a two-room apartment
Pichai didn't have a room - he slept on the living room floor, as did his younger brother.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Anjali Pichai and Sundar Pichai have two children
The family did not own a television, or a car.But Pichai's
father planted the seeds of technology into his boy's mind, partly thanks to his job at British conglomerate General Electric Company (not
to be confused with the American General Electric)."I used to come home and talk to him a lot about my work day and the challenges I faced,"
Regunatha Pichai told Bloomberg, adding that Sundar had a remarkable talent for remembering telephone numbers.After graduating from IIT
Kharagpur, Pichai was offered a scholarship at the ultimate breeding ground of tech geniuses - Stanford
The plane ticket to America cost more than his father's annual salary.At Google, Pichai is described as soft-spoken, and well liked
He is also very popular among developers - he runs Google's annual developer event, I/O.Image copyrightGetty ImagesUntil now, his remit was
best summed up as Google's core products - the bits that make the real money
They include things like search, advertising and maps.What does Alphabet do?Alphabet Inc was created in 2015, after Google reorganised its
businesses to make its activities "cleaner and more accountable".Google itself became a subsidiary of Alphabet, with the division looking
after products such as Search, Maps, YouTube, Chrome and the Android mobile phone platform.Some other businesses which were previously owned
by Google were moved to become subsidiaries of Alphabet.WaymoWaymo started in 2009 as a Google project to build a self-driving car
It is now run as a separate company under Alphabet.Image copyrightWaymoImage caption
Waymo's cars feature sensors to
detect pedestrians
It launched its first commercial service in December 2018, offering autonomous robo-taxi rides to people
in Phoenix, Arizona.The company says it has more than 1,000 riders using the service, and its autonomous cars have driven more than 10
million miles on public roads.CalicoGoogle launched its health-focused research and development company in 2013, with Larry Page announcing
in a blog post that its work would be based around the research areas of "health and well-being, in particular the challenge of ageing and
associated diseases"."We are scientists from the fields of medicine, drug development, molecular biology, and genetics," says the firm on
its website."We're tackling ageing, one of life's greatest mysteries."Sidewalk LabsSidewalk Labs is focused on smart cities, and explores
how data-gathering sensors can be used to manage crowds and traffic.In October, it was given the green light to create a "smart city" in a
disused area of Toronto, Canada
But the development will be much smaller than it had wanted.Image copyrightSidewalk LabsImage caption
Google wants to
create a high-tech neighbourhood with eco-friendly buildings, robots and sensors collecting a range of data
Sidewalk Labs
had wanted to develop a 190-acre (0.7-sq-km) site but was given permission for just 12 acres.And any data the company collects from its
sensors must be treated as a public asset.DeepMindAcquired by Google in 2014, DeepMind is a UK-based company researching artificial
intelligence and machine learning.Its AlphaGo software has beaten world champions at the ancient game of Go.It led one Go master to retire
from the game, because he felt the AI could not be beaten.And in October, it said its AlphaStar program had reached the top league of one of
the most popular esport video games, Starcraft 2.It hopes AlphaStar and other projects will help it develop other AI tools that should
ultimately benefit humanity.WingImage copyrightWingWing is Alphabet's drone delivery service
It launched its first commercial service in April, delivering takeaway food, coffee and medicines by drone to about 100 homes in Canberra,
Australia.It has been testing its drones in Australia since 2014, but many residents have complained about the noise.Wing said the feedback
obtained during its trials had been "valuable" and it hoped to "continue the dialogue"
LoonCreated by Google's research lab X in 2011, Loon became a subsidiary of Alphabet in 2018.It aims to bring internet access to
areas with poor connectivity, by floating solar-powered hotspots over regions where building phone masts would be too expensive.Image
copyrightLoonImage caption
A solar-powered transmitter hanging from a balloon
The company has previously
let mobile operators in Peru and Puerto Rico use its balloons free of charge, when phone masts have been damaged by natural disasters.Each
of the giant helium balloons is the size of a tennis court, but they have a lifespan of just five months, as the plastic degrades.Some
aviation authorities have also expressed safety concerns about the balloons.
