Google to join Ivanka Trump's pledge to train US workers

[WASHINGTON] Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai announced Thursday that the internet-search giant is signing on to presidential daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump's pledge to train American workers.

At an event in Dallas, Mr Pichai said Google planned to provide training for 250,000 workers over the next year and provide a US$3.5 million education grant. The Alphabet unit will offer access to the Google IT Support Professional Certificate programme, which is designed to help prepare individuals for entry-level tech jobs through an online course that can be completed within six months.

Google has made a concerted effort on these retraining efforts, in part, to address criticism that it's artificial intelligence projects risk automating jobs away.

Some 85,000 individuals globally have started the programme, which is available at more than 25 community colleges in the US, since it debuted in 2018. Walter Bumphus, the president of the American Association of Community Colleges, and Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick were among those attending the event, the White House said.

Google joins more than 300 companies including Apple and Microsoft who have committed to the White House pledge, and the president regularly touts his daughter's work on the initiative on the campaign trail.

The announcement in Dallas comes as the state's attorney general, Ken Paxton, is leading a group of states investigating whether Google's business practices violate state or federal antitrust laws.

Mr Paxton said last month that he had "seen evidence that Google's business practices may have undermined consumer choice, stifled innovation, violated users' privacy, and put Google in control of the flow and dissemination of online information".

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