I expect Google Docs is still using Operational Transform, rather than CRDT, which solves a similar set of problems, the former being suited for running off centralized servers and the latter being more suited for distributed scenarios. Though you could still certainly create something Google Docs like with CRDT.
They may well have hired some of the cohort behind early CRDT research. But I don't believe that work was ever directly applied to Google Docs, from what I've read. Google probably has other applications for CRDTs far beyond anything I'd comprehend.
> Wasn't it also part of Google Wave?
The whitepapers and other material I've read all points to OT being used for Google Wave, which was later applied to Google Docs as well.
https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator/wave/whitepapers/...