Google’s EMEA Boss to Leave Company after Decade in Post

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Google’s EMEA Boss to Leave Company after Decade in Post

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake

The man charged with overseeing Google’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia has stepped down after a decade in post.
Matt Brittin first joined the tech giant as head of UK and Ireland operations in 2007, before rising through the ranks to become vice president of northern and central Europe, and then EMEA president in 2014.
Prior to his time at Google, Brittin spent several years working as a consultant for McKinsey & Co, as well as a stint as commercial director Trinity Mirror, later rebranded as Reach PLC, Reuters reported.
In a post announcing his departure on social media platform LinkedIn, Brittin praised colleagues whose AI advances this week won the Nobel prize for chemistry, and shared advice one of Google’s co-founders gave him when he arrived at the company.
“When I joined Google in January 2007, Larry Page advised me to ‘put the best people you can on important work, and get out of the way.’ It’s been the privilege of my life to try to honor this - working with brilliant teams to help build tech that makes the world better,” he wrote.
Brittin said he would continue running Google’s EMEA operations until a successor had been chosen.



Vodafone, Google Deepen AI Ties Across Europe, Africa

FILE PHOTO: Vodafone's logo is displayed, during the GSMA's 2023 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain March 1, 2023. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vodafone's logo is displayed, during the GSMA's 2023 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain March 1, 2023. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo
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Vodafone, Google Deepen AI Ties Across Europe, Africa

FILE PHOTO: Vodafone's logo is displayed, during the GSMA's 2023 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain March 1, 2023. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vodafone's logo is displayed, during the GSMA's 2023 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain March 1, 2023. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo

Britain's Vodafone said on Tuesday it has deepened its strategic partnership with Alphabet's Google in a ten-year, billion dollar plus deal that will bring the US tech giant's new generative AI-powered devices to customers across Europe and Africa.
According to Reuters, Vodafone said it would expand access to Google's artificial intelligence-powered Pixel devices with its 5G network in Europe and would continue promoting the Android ecosystem.
Global technology companies are competing to lure customers to upgrade their phones using new generative AI features, with the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung offering a suite of visual, text and audio features powered by AI.
Vodafone will offer Google One AI Premium subscription plans, which include Gemini Advanced, in certain countries by 2025, it said.
Vodafone will also use Google Cloud's enterprise-ready AI platform as part of the expanded partnership.
Google is in an AI race with companies such as OpenAI, which is backed by the likes of Microsoft and NVIDIA .