Google said that due to concerns about the spread of a new coronavirus, the company would cancel live events at its most important annual event, the I/O Developers Conference.
The company said in an email to attendees that it would refund those who bought the tickets.
A memo sent by Alphabet’s chief financial officer Ruth Porat showed that Google bans all business travel except in “critical” situations.
The memo calls on employees currently traveling abroad to return home as soon as possible. Google initially restricted employee travel in only a few countries, including China, Italy, and Iran.
“Due to concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities, we have decided to cancel the physical Google I/O event at Shoreline Amphitheatre,” Google said in a statement.
“Over the coming weeks, we will explore other ways to evolve Google I/O to best connect with and continue to build our developer community. We’ll continue to update the Google I/O website.”
The Google I/O Developer Conference is the company’s most immersive event, with thousands of presentations, giving global developers in its ecosystem the opportunity to get in touch, experience, and even interact with Google’s latest technology.
Google typically uses this event to showcase new features in its various products, such as Android, Google Photos, and YouTube.
In 2019, the Google I/O Developer Conference attracted more than 7,000 participants, which is one of the only opportunities for developers to interact with the company’s executives and experts.
At last year’s event, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai strolled the venue, talking to and taking photos with developers from around the world.
Google announced on Monday that the Google Cloud Next 2020 live event originally scheduled to be held in San Francisco from April 6th to April 8 was also canceled and held in virtual video mode, citing “for our customers, partners, and Employees are highly cautious. ”
Previously, Google also canceled its internal sales meeting scheduled for April in Las Vegas, and the Global News Initiative Summit scheduled for May in Sunnyvale, California.
Developer conferences are especially important in the technology industry, where companies must involve developers and users on their platforms. As travel plans were canceled, companies strengthened their protections for employees.
At the same time, more and more technology companies are delaying, changing or canceling large-scale events because of new coronavirus outbreaks. Google is one of them.
Facebook has previously announced that it has canceled the annual F8 Software Developers Conference. Microsoft also canceled a smaller party.
Technology industry summits such as the Game Developers Conference and Mobile World Congress have also been canceled. Apple’s Global Developers Conference (WWDC) is usually held in June, but the company has not announced specific arrangements for this event this year.
In addition, cloud software company Okta said on Tuesday that its annual customer and developer Oktane conference is scheduled to be held from March 30 to April 2, and will now be held online.