Google's Eric Schmidt: 'I Was Proven Completely Wrong' About Artificial Intelligence

While leading Google through the aughts, Eric Schmidt made a miscalculation. "I was proven completely wrong" about artificial intelligence, Alphabet's executive chairman said at the RSA security conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. Schmidt has initially skeptical about the technology, and he's since acknowledged how vital it is to both the company's mission and to the global economy. Indeed, Google (goog) CEO Sundar Pichai has described the world as having entered an "AI-first" era. The preceding phase was a focus on all things mobile- and smartphone-first (see: Android), according to Pichai, who succeeded Schmidt after a second CEO stint by Google co-founder Larry Page.