Google Meet or Google Mute? Even CEOs get borked sometimes
- Reference: 1776939307
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/04/23/google_cloud_next_videoconf_issues/
- Source link:
We've all been there. Frantically clicking or shouting into a seemingly deaf computer, only to be helpfully told that you're on mute while the meeting minutes inexorably tick on.
This happened to Kurian this week, with an audience on Google Meet that included several of the world's technical press - including The Reg - keen to find out what AI wizardry was on the cards for Google Cloud Next.
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As planned, the meeting kicked off on schedule. But Kurian was absent without leave. The minutes ticked past (and company representatives looked ever more frantic) until he overcame whatever technical hurdles had beset him, joining the video conference with the all-too-familiar words: "We're just having some issues with mute…"
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To this reporter, the exec looked a bit like the [4]1980s icon Max Headroom thanks to a besuited upper torso, and at one point made the very Freudian slip of mixing up "Agent" and "Person," but he managed to go through the key announcements, and that's what mattered.
You can check out our coverage [5]here , [6]here and [7]here .
[8]'Windows sucks,' former Microsoft engineer says, explains how to fix it
[9]Apple goes glass whole as it pours new UI everywhere
[10]We did warn you – 2025 may be the year AI bots take over Meta's 'verse
[11]Logitech Zone 305 is light on the ears and wallet, maybe a bit too light on quality?
However, a Google executive who had difficulty getting into a meeting that was running on the company's own conferencing platform highlights that everybody is human. Nobody is immune to the curse of [12]Bork .
Oh, and in the spirit of Google Cloud Next, we asked the company's AI chatbot, Gemini, for tips on preparing a Google Meet session. The bot responded: "Preparing for a Google Meet in 2026 involves more than just clicking a link; it's about ensuring your tech, environment, and agenda are locked in so you don't spend the first ten minutes saying, 'Can you hear me now?'"
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Sound advice, and we're happy to pass it on. ®
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[4] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092402/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/22/google_enterprise/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/22/google_unleashes_even_more_ai/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/22/google_tpu8_dual_track_training_inference/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/07/does_windows_really_suck_that/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/09/apple_wwdc_2025_keynote/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/08/meta_ai_bots/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/29/logitech_zone_305_review/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/Tag/Bork/
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[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Language
"Preparing for a Google Meet in 2026 involves more than just clicking a link; it's about ensuring your tech, environment, and agenda are locked in"
I'd like to know where LLMs got this nonsense from because I can't remember corporate speak being as bad as this and presumably they were trained on corporate speak.
Then there is the awkward silence
Spent a couple of minutes explaining when I wanted to change part of the monitoring threshold on our system.
Got to the end and said any opinions and was greeted with silence. Had to ask if anyone was listening (a colleague in the same team was) as for the intended audience not a reaction….
This was to make it easier to work with and not generate so many alerts but……
"Yes, I can hear you, Clem Fandango."
It's not that hard
Google Meet is basically Jitsi but probably with intercept enabled (as the only place where you can read the data stream is the server, the rest is encrypted), and as with all WebRTC clients you need to make sure your browser is allowed to access the required devices, and usually from the browser itself.
Secondly, it's good practice to test any communications platform a bit before you go into a meeting. Teams is crap in this respect too if you switch between speakers, headset and airpods - I presume it has an AI component that ensures it always picks the least useful resource.
"that everybody is human"
is obvious to everyone except Max Headroom and bigtech execs mixing up "Agent" and "Person."
The higher up the greasy pole the greater the technophobia and general incompetence Is pretty general observation but at some point most do acquire minders, carers or custody officers.
The abiding memory of the mid '80s is of Max Headroom and of course the Kenny Everett Television Show; the '80s were otherwise a bit rubbish.