Google chief denies tech giant has plans to launch censored search engine in China

Google's chief executive, Sundar Pichai, has said the firm has "no plans" to launch a censored version of its search engine in China in testimony before US lawmakers at a hearing this afternoon.

The comments came despite widespread reports of such efforts, as well as a letter from Pichai to senators in August which that said providing such a service could result in "broad benefits" to Chinese citizens.

Speaking before the US House Judiciary Committee, Pichai denied harbouring plans to launch a service in China, though he did not rule out any future activity in the country.

Known as Project Dragonfly, reports had suggested the developed app would comply with China's strict censorship laws, restricting access to content that the Chinese government believes to be unsuitable such as information about freedom of speech, anticommunism and George Orwell novels.

Additional reports from the Intercept alleged the project had been in the works for a while, but received a significant boost after Pichai met with Chinese government officials. The company's search product exited the Chinese market in 2010.

The move has been met with heavy criticism from US officials and internal Google employees, as last week more than 600 employees signed a letter in opposition to the project.

Pichai's comments today came as part of testimony against allegations of political bias built into Google's search algorithms, which Republican lawmakers said prioritised results from liberal media outlets.

The Google chief brushed off the accusations, saying Google's algorithms could not be tampered with by employees to build up preferences towards one political view or another.