In a significant move, Google is bidding farewell to the Gulf of Mexico, with the tech giant announcing a name change to the Gulf of America. This change follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day back in office, which sparked questions about how Google Maps updates its naming conventions.
Google addressed these inquiries on X, stating, “We have received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.” This commitment to accuracy reflects the intersection of technology and politics as companies adapt to governmental changes.
Additionally, Google will revert the name of Denali, the highest mountain in North America, back to Mt. McKinley, in line with another executive order from Trump. Denali was renamed in 2015 by then-President Barack Obama, who restored its original name, which was given in honor of President William McKinley in 1896.
As of Monday afternoon, these updates had not yet taken effect on Google Maps, but the company assured users that it would be implementing these changes “quickly” to reflect the new names. Notably, American users will see the “official local name,” while users globally will have access to both names for these locations.
This shift in naming comes after Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, was seen supporting President Trump at his inauguration last week. Other tech leaders, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, were also present, highlighting the close ties between the tech industry and current political leadership. For more on their visit to Washington, D.C., and the reactions it garnered, you can read more by clicking here.
The post Google Renames the Gulf of Mexico After Trump’s Executive Order appeared first on TheWrap.
