Google I/O Conference Latest Tech Event Canceled Over Coronavirus Fears
MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS SF) – Google announced Tuesday that it plans to cancel its upcoming I/O developers conference in May due to concerns about the coronavirus, continuing a string of major tech conferences halted due to the ongoing outbreak.
"Due to concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19), we've decided to cancel this year's physical event at Shoreline Amphitheatre. It's sad that we won't be able to gather as a developer community but your health and safety is our priority," the tech giant said in a tweet Tuesday.
A #GoogleIO update.
— Google Developers (@googledevs) March 3, 2020
Due to concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19), we've decided to cancel this year's physical event at Shoreline Amphitheatre. It's sad that we won't be able to gather as a developer community but your health and safety is our priority. (1/2)
According to an email obtained by CNET, attendees would receive a full refund.
The tech giant's biggest event of the year, Google I/O was scheduled to take place at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View from May 12-14.
• COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
Tuesday's announcement comes a day after Google said it would turn its Cloud Next conference scheduled for early April at the Moscone Center in San Francisco into a multi-day digital streaming event. Attendees of the cloud conference would also receive refunds and would be automatically registered for the online event, which is free.
Concerns about the virus, which has sickened tens of thousands of people worldwide and led to at least 3,000 confirmed deaths have led to the cancellation of other major tech events around the world. Other high-profile tech conferences that have been canceled include the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona and the Facebook F8 conference scheduled for June in San Jose.
There are also growing concerns about the massive South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas scheduled for next week potentially being canceled. Twitter and Facebook announced they have pulled out of the event amid coronavirus concerns.
SXSW organizers on Monday said the event will go on as planned.