--- title: Google CEO to Congress: Company Is Not Politically Biased description: Google CEO Sundar Pichai denied the company is politically biased, according to testimony he plans to deliver to Congress this week. canonical: https://time.com/5476099/google-ceo-bias-congress-privacy/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-11T00:07:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:51:55.242Z article:section: Politics og:title: Google CEO Denies the Company Is Politically Biased in Planned Testimony to Congress og:description: Sundar Pichai also described user privacy as "an essential part of our mission" og:url: https://time.com/5476099/google-ceo-bias-congress-privacy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23fc91cda6f0b24f/6989413a22fb85c625e275fa/gettyimages-1056109494.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Business, Tech And Media Luminaries Attend New York Times DealBook Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Google CEO Denies the Company Is Politically Biased in Planned Testimony to Congress twitter:description: Sundar Pichai also described user privacy as "an essential part of our mission" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23fc91cda6f0b24f/6989413a22fb85c625e275fa/gettyimages-1056109494.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Google CEO Denies the Company Is Politically Biased in Planned Testimony to Congress > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mark Bergen / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Mark Bergen / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 11, 2018 12:07 AM UTC  Sundar Pichai, C.E.O., Google Inc. speaks at the New York Times DealBook conference on November 1, 2018 in New York City. Sundar Pichai, C.E.O., Google Inc. speaks at the New York Times DealBook conference on November 1, 2018 in New York City. Stephanie Keith—Getty Images by [Mark Bergen / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Mark Bergen / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 11, 2018 12:07 AM UTC Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai backed privacy legislation and denied the company is politically biased, according to a transcript of testimony he plans to deliver to Congress later this week. “I lead this company without political bias and work to ensure that our products continue to operate that way,” Pichai said, according to the transcript released on Monday. “To do otherwise would go against our core principles and our business interests.” He also described user privacy as “an essential part of our mission,” while stressing Google’s U.S. roots. “As an American company, we cherish the values and freedoms that have allowed us to grow and serve so many users,” Pichai said. “I am proud to say we do work, and we will continue to work, with the government to keep our country safe and secure.” Pichai is set to testify on Tuesday before a House Judiciary Committee hearing about the company’s data collection, search business and a range of other issues. Alphabet Inc.’s Google proposed a framework for federal privacy legislation earlier this year. The remarks did not directly address Google’s retreat from a U.S. Department of Defense contract or its proposed plans to bring a search engine back to China, two subjects that will likely come up during Tuesday’s hearing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5476099/google-ceo-bias-congress-privacy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5476099/google-ceo-bias-congress-privacy/"},"headline":"Google CEO Denies the Company Is Politically Biased in Planned Testimony to Congress","datePublished":"2018-12-11T00:07:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:51:55.242Z","description":"Sundar Pichai also described user privacy as \"an essential part of our mission\"","url":"https://time.com/5476099/google-ceo-bias-congress-privacy/","keywords":["Google","Tech","Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23fc91cda6f0b24f/6989413a22fb85c625e275fa/gettyimages-1056109494.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Bergen / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23fc91cda6f0b24f/6989413a22fb85c625e275fa/gettyimages-1056109494.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Business, Tech And Media Luminaries Attend New York Times DealBook Conference","caption":"Business, Tech And Media Luminaries Attend New York Times DealBook Conference","creditText":"Stephanie Keith—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/google/","name":"Google"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5476099/google-ceo-bias-congress-privacy/","name":"Google CEO Denies the Company Is Politically Biased in Planned Testimony to Congress"}}]}] ```