Google cancels annual I/O developer conference due to coronavirus fears

Google’s playing it safe. 

The tech giant emailed would-be attendees of its annual Google I/O developer conference today to let them know that the “physical” event would be canceled. Much like Facebook’s cancelation of its own developer conference, F8, Google placed the blame on the coronavirus. 

“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 Amphitheater,” reads the email sent to ticket purchasers. 

Google confirmed the cancelation in an email to Mashable, and pointed us toward its I/O website which also contains the above statement. 

The event, originally scheduled for May 12 through May 14, will not take place IRL. However, the email suggests that there may be some kind of live streamed version. 

“Over the coming weeks, we will explore other ways to evolve Google I/O to best connect with our developer community,” continues the email. 

This idea goes hand-in-hand with a message from Google CEO Sundar Pichai stating his company’s intention to make some of Google Hangouts’ paid-tier features more widely available. 

SEE ALSO: Google trolled from the sky at I/O developer ‘festival’

“We want to help businesses and schools impacted by COVID-19 stay connected: starting this week, we’ll roll out free access to our advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities through July 1, 2020 to all G Suite customers globally,” wrote Pichai on Twitter.

The future, or at least the future of 2020, appears to be remote — and Google is wasting no time time embracing it.

UPDATE: March 3, 2020, 1:24 p.m. PST: This story has been updated to note that Google confirmed the cancelation to Mashable over email.