Google's China Bid Won't End Well

In 2006 the Chinese government allowed Google to establish Google.cn for Chinese internet users. In return, Google agreed to scrub results of content that the government found objectionable. The deal held until 2010, when Google decided it could no longer agree to such terms. Within hours, the site was blocked and Google's search business on the mainland was dead.

The Alphabet Inc. unit never completely gave up on China, however, and last week it launched its most recent effort to capture a piece of the world's largest internet market. In Beijing, it's opening an AI research center; online, it's launched a new social media account to support AI developers who use Google's software tools. Compared to the politically sensitive search business, this is a subtler approach to succeeding in China's tech universe. But like its previous efforts, Google's latest venture will almost certainly fall short.