Russia fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | CNN business

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CNN
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Russia is demanding an unimaginable sum from one of the world's largest technology companies.

Google reportedly owes the Kremlin more than 2 billion rubles – a 2 followed by 36 zeros – after it refused to pay the fines it now faces for blocking pro-Russian channels on YouTube.

The virtually unspeakable penalty is $20 decillion—or about $20 billion trillion trillion. This dwarfs the size of the global economy.

According to the International Monetary Fund, global gross domestic product looks comparatively modest at $110 trillion. Google's parent company Alphabet now has a market value of around $2 trillion.

Russian state press TASS reported this week that a Russian court had previously ordered Google to restore its YouTube channels – some of which have been blocked since 2022 – or face mounting charges, with penalties doubling every week.

When asked about the lawsuit in a phone call with reporters on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted that he “can't even pronounce this number correctly” but said the staggering sum was “full of symbolism.” Google “should not restrict the actions of our broadcasters on its platform,” he added.

CNN has reached out to Google for comment. In quarterly results released this week, the company cited “ongoing legal matters” related to its business in Russia.

“We have been subject to civil judgments that include increased penalties in connection with account termination disputes, including those of sanctioned parties,” Google said. “We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse impact (on results).”

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Google limited its operations in the country but, unlike several other American technology companies, did not withdraw entirely. Many of its services, including search and YouTube, remain available in the country.

Months after the invasion, Google's Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy and suspended most of its operations after the government took control of its bank accounts.