Google CEO says will discuss Apple board role

By Yinka Adegoke

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said he will discuss with Apple how his role on its board might change after Google's move to launch a new operating system.

Because Google's new Chrome OS would compete with Apple's own computer software, Schmidt said on Thursday he would talk to the Mac computer maker about whether he should recuse himself from Apple's board.

"I'll talk to the Apple people. At the moment, there's no issue," Schmidt told reporters at a Sun Valley media and technology conference organized by boutique investment bank Allen & Co.

While Google and Apple compete directly or indirectly in a number of areas -- the most obvious being the smartphone market -- Google's announcement this week that it will launch an operating system raised more questions about the relationship between their boards.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is currently looking into whether the ties between the boards violate antitrust laws. Schmidt and former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson are directors of both companies.

Under federal antitrust law, a person is not allowed to sit on the board of two companies if it decreases competition between them.

Schmidt began recusing himself from Apple board meetings where the iPhone was discussed after Google launched its own Android mobile phone operating system.

Google's Chrome OS -- expected to debut in netbooks in the second half of 2010 -- would compete directly with Apple's OS X platform.