YouTube LLC CEO Susan Wojcicki does not think the company should be spun off from its parent Alphabet Inc. because she believes her company benefits from Google LLC's technology and that a break up would not benefit consumers.
"We use technology from Google that's really helpful — like all the machine learning ... being able to find the violative content," she said Sept. 25 at an industry event in Washington, D.C. Wojcicki added, "I don't think it would have any benefit for consumers if we were spun out."
Her comments come during a time of intense scrutiny from antitrust regulators against big tech companies. Earlier this month, Alphabet disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had received a civil investigative demand from the U.S. Department of Justice requesting information and documents related to previous antitrust investigations in the U.S. and elsewhere. Google is also subject to an antitrust probe from 50 attorneys general into potentially monopolistic behavior in the online advertising marketplace.
When asked if she was jealous of anything YouTube's video competitors, such as Facebook Inc. and Beijing Byte Dance Telecommunications Co. Ltd.'s TikTok, were doing, Wojcicki said YouTube remains focused on succeeding in the user-generated content space, as it is "so big and so important."
"I really want to make sure that we don't lose focus on what we do well," she said.
When asked when consumers will stop watching linear television, Wojcicki said "a lot of the next generation already has."
"I think if you look at this next generation, they will say 'Why should I wait for a show to be on at 6? I could just see it all now on this [streaming] platform. I can see it on my phone.'"
According to Wojcicki, the shift to streaming platforms is simply "what the users expect."
