Google's AI-focused Bay View campus struggles with Wi-Fi issues
What's the story
Google's Bay View building in Mountain View, California, has been struggling with Wi-Fi connectivity issues for months.
This comes at a time when the company is pushing a three-day, every week return-to-office mandate.
Sketchy Wi-Fi has severely impacted employees working on the company's high-profile generative artificial intelligence project.
A Google spokesperson confirmed the Wi-Fi troubles and mentioned that improvements are being made, with a fix expected in the coming weeks.
Issues
Wi-Fi issues impacting employees and work conditions
Employees have found it challenging to work efficiently due to the Wi-Fi problems, particularly when moving around the building's collaborative workspaces.
One AI engineer remarked, "You'd think the world's leading internet company would have worked this out."
To deal with the situation, some workers use their phones as hotspots or relocate to areas with stronger Wi-Fi signals.
Managers have even suggested employees go outside or sit at the nearby cafe for better connectivity.
Problems
Reasons for connectivity issues and AI developments
While Google hasn't revealed the cause of the Wi-Fi issues, employees suspect that the building's 600,000-sqft wave-like rooftop design is interfering with broadband signals.
Despite these challenges, Google's AI team is developing the latest versions of advanced artificial intelligence software called Gemini, which gained attention after ChatGPT's release in late 2022.
When asked about Wi-Fi availability at the campus, the Gemini AI bot responded optimistically, "It is highly likely that the Bay View campus has Wi-Fi."
Design
Brief info about the Bay View campus
The Bay View building and its surrounding campus are the first to be completely designed and built by Google.
The company has also released a 229-page book that highlights Bay View's cutting-edge facilities like "Googley interiors" and "an environment where everyone has the tools they need to be successful."
However, the "recliner-laden collaborative workspaces" certainly miss out on stable Wi-Fi connectivity.