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Google parent Alphabet is pruning its 'other bets'
Alphabet is changing. The Silicon Valley super-company, which serves as an umbrella for Google and smaller, riskier subsidiaries known as "other bets," was established in August 2015. Executives hoped that the reshuffle would satisfy investors, who wanted a better understanding of Google's expanding business portfolio, and encourage each division to become financially successful and independent. At the time, Alphabet had 10 companies under its purview: Google (Search, Android, YouTube and more), Access (Fiber broadband), Calico (aging), Capital (late-stage investment), DeepMind (artificial intelligence), Google Ventures (startup investment), Life Sciences (health), Nest (smart home appliances), Sidewalk (smart cities) and Google X, which still looked after Boston Dynamics (robots), Waymo (self-driving cars), Loon (internet balloons), Wing (delivery drones) and other so-called "moonshot" projects. That list has been amended over the last four and a half years. Many Alphabet companies have simply rebranded -- Life Sciences has become Verily, for instance, Google Ventures is now GV and Google X has dropped the word Google from its name. Of greater importance, however, are the "other bets" that Alphabet has created, killed and casually moved under Google management. Surprisingly, these decisions have accelerated over the last 12 months, highlighting Alphabet's changing ambitions and just how difficult it is to turn a moonshot into a billion-dollar business.
Alphabet quits work on its energy-generating kites
Alphabet's years-long involvement with energy-making kites is no more. The Google parent is ending its work on Makani's wind power technology, with X's Moonshot lead Astro Teller warning that the path to a viable business was "much longer and riskier" than expected. Alphabet liked Makani's environmental focus, but felt that it was important to pour effort into those areas where it believed it could "have the greatest impact."
Shell backs Alphabet's power-generating kites in latest renewable bet
Alphabet is turning yet another one of its X projects into a business, but this time it's enlisting the help of an unusual ally. Makani Power, a venture making electricity-generating kites (see above), has become a full-fledged subsidiary of Alphabet thanks in part to a minority investment from Shell -- yes, the fossil fuel giant. The two hope to shift the technology from the land to offshore, where winds are stronger. They're betting that the kites will be easier to deploy than conventional wind farms, since they could deploy with floating buoys instead of requiring platforms that reach down to the ocean bed.
Google beats Facebook to acquisition of drone maker
Google has just agreed to buy Titan Aerospace, a maker of high-altitude solar-powered drones that was in acquisition talks with Facebook just a few months ago. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Mountain View company hopes to use these long-lasting autonomous vehicles to assist its Project Loon project, which aims to broadcast internet signals to parts of the world that can't get online. Facebook, on the other hand, went ahead with another drone company called Ascenta for Internet.org, its own worldwide internet initiative. Google has uses for Titan beyond just Project Loon, however. The drones could also be useful for Makani, a Google project to build an energy-efficient airborne wind turbine. As the unmanned planes are also able to collect high-res images of earth and support voice and data services, they could also be of use in other Google divisions, such as Maps. While all Titan employees are now a part of Google, they'll remain in New Mexico for the time being. The terms of the purchase have not been disclosed.
