Google CEO Sundar Pichai is set to work with Apple on other projects

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said he is "committed" to find other opportunities to collaborate with Apple beyond the companies' Exposure Notification system.

The Google Chief Executive recently spoke out about topics ranging from working remotely to the Apple-Google contact tracing API, which was created to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

When asked about whether the partnership could "open the door" to further collaboration between the companies, Pichai said that he was "committed to finding other opportunities" for that to happen, adding that he had "the same sense" from Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"Large companies working together in service of society is really good for the world," Pichai said.

"Both teams independently had started working on technology to support health agencies in their contact tracing work," Pichai said. "Very quickly both sides realized that for this to work well it has to be available everywhere."

From there, engineering teams at both Apple and Google started reaching out to each other. At some point, Pichai said, he and Cook decided to interface directly. Once the framework was finalized, the two CEOs gave it their final seal of approval. The API was first announced on April 10.

The Google Chief expanded on some of the strong privacy protections baked into the API, stating that the opt-in portion of the framework is an important aspect of the process.

When asked about whether contact tracing won't be effective because of the opt-in clause, Pichai said that the system could have a meaningful impact on virus mitigation even if only 10 to 20% of users participate.

"We also realized we have to give users real privacy guarantees," he said. "I think we struck the right balance."

Pichai also said that it's unlikely that Google will remain 100% remote, saying that it's still too early to tell how many employees could be working from home once the pandemic ends. Google, and the rest of Silicon Valley, have been under stay-at-home order since March 16.