Google search chief to be replaced by Artificial Intelligence expert

The technology company and Internet search giant Google Inc, announced that Amit Singhal, the executive who has led the Google search operations unit during the past 15 years will retire and be replaced by the head of its artificial intelligence division, John Giannandrea.

Singhal is leaving Google on Feb. 26, after 15 years with the company which is based in Mountain View, California, USA.

"When I started, who would have imagined that in a short period of 15 years, we would tap a button, ask Google anything and get the answer," Singhal wrote on the social network Google+ Wednesday, where he announced his plans to retire.

The executive said he is "proud" of what Google has achieved in the last 15 years.

"The search (on Google) has transformed people's lives. Over a billion people rely on us," said Singhal, adding that "it is impossible to overstate" the importance and impact that Google's mission has had in empowering people around the world with access to information.

"I love Google," Singhal wrote in his resignation notice. He added that Google is a company that believes in "doing the right thing, a company that believes in doing good in the world, a company that cares".