2017 Founders' Letter
Key ideas
Brin calls the new spring in AI the most significant computing development of his lifetime and argues that its reach obliges Alphabet to proceed with care and humility.
- 1
A forgotten footnote found many applications
Brin writes that neural networks were close to forgotten when Google started, and that they now power a long list of applications, from photos and translation to data center efficiency and medical diagnosis. He calls this the most significant development in computing in his lifetime.
- 2
Applications and hardware drive each other
Brin names three causes of the computing boom: Moore's Law, demand from gaming and some cryptocurrencies, and, most importantly, machine learning. He says machine learning is both enabled by stronger processors and the main reason for building them, and that quantum computing could dwarf these gains for a specialized class of problems if it pans out.
- 3
Powerful tools raise open questions
Brin lists what he says these tools raise: effects on employment, how to understand what they are doing, fairness, manipulation and safety. He presents these as questions getting serious research, not settled matters, and says he expects Alphabet to keep leading in the ethics of the field as well as the technology.
- 4
Give new bets room, and judge honestly
Brin says Alphabet exists to let new applications of technology thrive with more independence, while collaboration continues across units. He declines to call the structure proven, pointing to early progress in units such as Waymo and the Onduo joint venture as grounds only for cautious optimism.
- 5
Scale changes what you owe people
Brin argues that widespread use brings new responsibilities, and that because expectations of technology differ by nationality, culture and politics, Google has to develop products with more care. He says technology companies have historically been idealistic and that the concerns being raised around the world are legitimate, even though he remains optimistic.
In Sergey’s words
“When we started the company, neural networks were a forgotten footnote in computer science; a remnant of the AI winter of the 1980's.”
Sergey Brin·2017 Founders' Letter·Read in context(opens the original in a new tab)“While it is too early to declare the strategy a success, I am cautiously optimistic.”
Sergey Brin·2017 Founders' Letter·Read in context(opens the original in a new tab)“While I am optimistic about the potential to bring technology to bear on the greatest problems in the world, we are on a path that we must tread with deep responsibility, care, and humility.”
Sergey Brin·2017 Founders' Letter·Read in context(opens the original in a new tab)About this entry
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- Essay
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- English
- Added
- Nov 2, 2026
- Source last checked
- Nov 2, 2026
Cover photo of Sergey Brin, not from this work: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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