Stephen Hawking sees the danger of artificial intelligence. So does Elon Musk. Oxford professor Nick Bostrom, head of the Future of Humanity Institute, has written a whole book about it. Even the scientists at Google DeepMind, who are developing artificial intelligence, seem a little spooked about it.

It's election day in America—the political equivalent of a tech IPO. And this election, Silicon Valley's tycoons donated heavily across a variety of candidates, partisan PACs, and ballot measures.

European regulators are once again scrutinizing Google as complaints mount that the search giant is diverting traffic away from competitors in favor of their own services. But Eric Schmidt insists the only ones calling Google a monopoly are jealous haters who want to see the internet go back in time.

Silicon Valley's tech tycoons have been lurching towards the right wing for years now. But with the Valley's valuations climbing to record heights, those billionaires are backing Republicans like never before—and the party of obstruction is willing to say whatever it takes to get their dollars.

This just popped up on everyone's least favorite social network. If Facebook is a lemonade stand, then what exactly is Google+? A neglected sack of Country Time powder? An abandoned yeast factory, inhabited only by raccoons?

The pending Silicon Valley wage-fixing settlement is a dud, but the upshot is a trove of private executive emails put into the public record. New court documents, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, show the leadership at Google in a fit over a very new rival.

Joaquin Almunia is considered one of the most powerful regulators in tech because of his role as the European Union's antitrust chief. But now that the EU has decided not to let Google run roughshod over consumers and competitors, Almunia, who is texting buds with Google chairman Eric Schmidt, finds himself an awkward position.

Google, like other enlightened corporations, makes its workers to routinely rank each other and forces the scores to match a bell curve. The employees who are placed at the wrong end of the bell curve risk termination. That's stressful enough—now imagine your CEO personally meddling.

Unlike its disruptive, transatlantic neighbor, Europe still cares about privacy. That's why a European high court just affirmed the right to selectively erase oneself from Google. Google's privacy-adoring Eric Schmidt thinks this is a mistake. That is about as hypocritical as it gets.

A new report from Page Six says Google's happily married executive chairman Eric Schmidt is staring at attractive young women—this time, in person. But couldn't he have at least used a face computer to stay on-brand?

An anonymous individual claiming to be a former Google employee posted detailed allegations about the search giant on Pastebin today. The self-stylized whistleblower claimed that Google managers directly ordered employees to steal money from publishers through AdSense, its ad placement service, and that the scheme has been active for years.

It's official. Google completed its controversial two-tiered stock split, insuring that top executives like Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt control the voting power. Now all they need is immortality and they're good to go.

On stage at SXSW, Wired's Steven Levy asked Eric Schmidt whether companies like WhatsApp lead to more inequality. Here's Schmidt's response: "Let us celebrate capitalism," he said, opening his arms. "$19 billion for 50 people? Good for them."

Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas, just began their South by Southwest panel addressing "issues of technology and privacy, war and intervention, diplomacy and revolution around the world."

Besides air, nothing good can come from having something present in all places at all times. Not even Wi-fi. But that didn't stop Eric Schmidt from trying to make a case for Google's artificially intelligent offspring.

Last week, Google announced that Eric Schmidt got a $106 million bonus based on the company's 2013 performance. According to the New York Post, he hasn't wasted any time putting it to good use.

Today in horrible images that'll make you beg outside a hospital for a lobotomy: Rubert Murdoch's ex is so glad to no longer be sexing Google's executive chairman. That makes seven billion of us.

Eric Schmidt used to be the CEO of Google, and now he's not. But the company just decided to reward him with $106 million—100 in stock, six in cash—as an annual bonus. That's about $80 million more than the CEO of Goldman Sachs. It's also fucked up and insane.

Late yesterday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals "paved the way" for a class action lawsuit from tech workers against Apple, Google, Adobe, Intel, and Systems Inc. for "conspiring to drive down pay by not poaching each other's staff." Around 60,000 workers will be allowed to sue as a group and pursue "what the defendants said could exceed $9 billion of damages."

If anyone knows where "the creepy line" lies, it's Eric Schmidt. And he says the NSA has crossed it by spying on Google's data centers. "The steps that the organization was willing to do without good judgment to pursue its mission and potentially violate people’s privacy, it’s not OK,” Schmidt told the Wall Street Journal.