Alphabet Inc's Google said on Wednesday, July 8, that it has closed the cloud project named "Isolated Region" and added that it was not weighing options to offer its cloud platform in China.
Earlier in the day, Bloomberg News reported, citing two employees, that Google had shelved the project in China and other politically sensitive countries in May, partly due to rising geopolitical tensions and the pandemic.
The search engine giant, however, said that the project's shutdown was not due to either of those two reasons and that it has not offered cloud platform services in China.
"Isolated Region" was just one of the paths explored by the company to address requirements related to the adoption of cloud technology, a company spokesperson said.
The project aimed to provide cloud services to customers and regulatory bodies around the world.
The Plan for Isolated Region in China
Al Jazeera reported that a spokesperson from Google said the Isolated Region wasn't shut down due to geopolitical concerns or the Coronavirus pandemic and the company isn't weighing options to offer the Google Cloud Platform in China. She said the Isolated Region was shelved because "other approaches we were actively pursuing offered better outcomes."
The spokesperson also said "We have a comprehensive approach to addressing these requirements that cover the governance of data, operational practices and survivability of software," adding that "Isolated Region was just one of the paths we explored to address these requirements."
(With inputs from agency)
