Alphabet CEO: Plan to target EU commissioner was not “sanctioned” by me

Enlarge / EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton talks to media during a press conference in June. (credit: Thierry Monasse | Getty Images)

The chief executive of Google's parent company Alphabet has apologized to Thierry Breton after an internal document laid out a plan to attack the EU commissioner and promised that such tactics were not the way we operate."

In a virtual meeting on Thursday, Sundar Pichai told Mr. Breton, the internal market commissioner, that Google was a very large company and that the document was never shown to me." He added that he had not sanctioned" the plan, according to two people familiar with the conversation.

The document set out Google's response to landmark new legislation from the EU as the bloc reshapes how it regulates Internet companies.

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