Google drops I/O dev conference completely

There will be no Google I/O developer and technology conference at all this year, thanks to the novel coronavirus causing a full shutdown of California, in order to contain the outbreak.

"Out of concern for the health and safety of our developers, employees, and local communities — and in line with recent “shelter in place” orders by the local Bay Area counties — we sadly will not be holding I/O in any capacity this year," Google said in a brief statement.

Earlier this month, Google said it would cancel the physical I/O conference and turn it into an online-only event.

Google said it is committed to finding other wasy to share platform updates through developer blogs and community forums.

The I/O event has been held annually since 2008, and attracted around 5,000 attendees each year.