I understand your concern. After Google started the negative press about AGPL, some companies I worked also followed suit. It felt like blind following, as almost none of my software faces the public -- it's mostly internal. In that case, AGPL is no concern. But internal training made a big point about "avoid AGPL... even Google avoids it!" Truly, it was F.U.D. nonsense.
You also wrote: <<Google uses tons of GPL software that they don't pay for (Linux, Java, etc.)>> While that statement may be true on the surface, it belies the fact that Google is either a major, direct contributor to the Linux kernel (and many of its parts). Or: Google is a major sponsor of open source orgs to pay for developers to work on open source projects -- like the Linux kernel.
Also: Are you aware that the Oracle version of Java requires companies to pay license costs when used in a production settings? I cannot say if Google uses a non-Oracle release. But if they do (sometimes) use the Oracle release, I am sure they pay licensing costs. Before you make a claim like that, you should share a source -- one way or the other. One reason why some companies choose to pay the license for Java (instead of using a non-Oracle pure open source release): They want the support when there is a security issue. Example: If you find a bug in the JVM and you are a major customer, then it will be much easier to get support directly from Oracle to release a fix.
I don't know, but I expect that Google uses the OpenJDK release, which is identical to the Oracle JDK except it does not receive paid support from Oracle. I strongly doubt Google which has been fighting Oracle for years about a Java license would be paying Oracle for support. But stranger things have been known to happen!
I would wager that there’s a corner case in Google somewhere where Google is paying Oracle for Java. (After so many acquisitions, it’s essentially inevitable and not all will be eradicated in post-merger integration, especially if the product wasn’t the main driver of the acquisition.)
You also wrote: <<Google uses tons of GPL software that they don't pay for (Linux, Java, etc.)>> While that statement may be true on the surface, it belies the fact that Google is either a major, direct contributor to the Linux kernel (and many of its parts). Or: Google is a major sponsor of open source orgs to pay for developers to work on open source projects -- like the Linux kernel.
Also: Are you aware that the Oracle version of Java requires companies to pay license costs when used in a production settings? I cannot say if Google uses a non-Oracle release. But if they do (sometimes) use the Oracle release, I am sure they pay licensing costs. Before you make a claim like that, you should share a source -- one way or the other. One reason why some companies choose to pay the license for Java (instead of using a non-Oracle pure open source release): They want the support when there is a security issue. Example: If you find a bug in the JVM and you are a major customer, then it will be much easier to get support directly from Oracle to release a fix.