“Father of the Internet” Vinton Cerf Retiring from Google at 83

Vinton Cerf, one of the founders of modern internet technologies and known worldwide as the “Father of the Internet,” is concluding his long career in the tech world. The 83-year-old scientist will officially retire from his positions as Vice President and “Chief Internet Evangelist” at Google starting next week. This was announced at the Open Frontier conference organized by the Laude Institute. Techcrunch.com reports on this.

During the event, UC Berkeley professor and founder of the RISC processor architecture, Dave Patterson, spoke and specifically recognized Vinton Cerf's 20 years of productive work at Google. Patterson noted that Cerf's contribution to the tech world is incomparable and his retirement marks the end of an era. So far, Google officials have not provided additional comments on this information.

Vinton Cerf and his colleague Robert Kahn are the architects who developed the TCP/IP protocols, which form the basis of the global network we know today. This set of rules, created in the 1970s, allowed different computer networks to communicate with each other. For these immense services, Cerf has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Turing Award and the highest US civilian honor — the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Legacy in the tech world

Having been part of the Google team since 2005, Cerf focused not only on technical solutions but also on popularizing the internet worldwide and ensuring its openness. During his career, the internet evolved from a small scientific project into an integral part of human life. Today, the rapid development of the digital economy and IT sector in Uzbekistan is built precisely on the open protocols established by Cerf.

During the conference, Cerf also shared his thoughts on the future of artificial intelligence (AI). In his view, the current concentration of AI models in the hands of a few large laboratories contradicts the original decentralized nature of the internet. However, the expert predicted that the emergence of autonomous AI agents in the future will force companies to return to open and standardized protocols.

“The interaction of several agents from different sources will create a demand for interoperability and standardization,” Vinton Cerf emphasized. He believes that companies that are first to define these standards will hold significant influence in the future “agent economy.”

While Vinton Cerf's retirement is a great loss for the tech world, the principles of an open and global network he left behind will continue to serve as a guiding star for a new generation of developers and engineers. The achievements reached during his career include:

• Creation of TCP/IP protocols;
• Global popularization of the Internet;
• Support for open-source systems and standards;
• International initiatives on digital technology security and openness.