Eric Schmidt, the chief executive officer of Google until 2022 who later served as executive chair at the tech company and its parent firm Alphabet, has joined oracle solutions provider Chainlink Labs as a strategic counselor.

Co-ordinate to a Tuesday announcement, Chainlink said Schmidt would guide the firm'due south scaling strategy in its utilise of oracle networks to trigger smart contracts. Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov cited Schmidt's feel "building global software platforms for next-generation innovation" in the firm's decision to bring the quondam Google exec on lath.

"The launch of blockchains and smart contracts has demonstrated tremendous potential for the edifice of new business concern models, but it has become articulate that 1 of blockchain's greatest advantages — a lack of connection to the world outside itself — is likewise its biggest challenge," said Schmidt.

In addition to his time at Google and Alphabet, Schmidt was chair of the Department of Defense'due south Innovation Board, chair of the National Security'due south Commission on Artificial Intelligence and served on the boards of Apple, Princeton University, Carnegie Mellon Academy and the Mayo Clinic. With an estimated net worth of roughly $23.6 billion, Schmidt will likely be 1 of the wealthiest individuals to human activity as an advisor to a crypto firm.

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Earlier this yr, Chainlink announced its Cantankerous-Chain Interoperability Protocol, or CCIP, capable of using the platform's oracles "to enable users to move digital assets and execute smart contracts across the diverse chains used throughout the metaverse." Co-ordinate to the firm, it currently has more than $80 billion worth of value locked in smart contracts and applications built on blockchains.