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There was an HN discussion earlier this week on Google X[0]. One important point made there, by snarf: > Google X is mainly about the PR value around its image

There was an HN discussion earlier this week on Google X[0]. One important point made there, by snarf: > Google X is mainly about the PR value around its image and recruiting/locking up talent. Google would rather have smart people locked up inside the company working on projects with a high probability of going nowhere rather than having them going to a competitor, or worse, creating the next major competitor. 0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12150812 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12150812

asdfologist 10y ago
That entire thread is filled with snark/speculation and lacks any actual facts. Is it that inconceivable that Google believes that one or more of these moonshots might actually take off?
- hueving 10y ago
  Well I'm sure the people working on it think one might take off. But if you're taking the pessimistic view it doesn't matter if they never succeed as long as the smart people are kept busy working for them.
  - Jach 10y ago
    It's a clever argument that might convince certain purse-holders, who are optimistic or pessimistic about the success, that it's in the company's best interest either way. I don't think Google's under full control of the sociopaths yet that this sort of "locked up" argument is needed, or is felt internally by very many upper level managers. It's also just not a great strategy if you're worried about potential future competitors given that employees are free citizens, not slaves, and California has no non-compete laws. Industry (let alone tech industry, let alone Californian tech industry) is littered with successful offshoots started by individuals and teams who used to work together at one company, and quit or were fired en masse to start working on something else in the same domain, taking their experience with them and owing their former company nothing. Facebook's strategy of "buy any threat" is a lot more sound, even if it too is vulnerable when the threat refuses to be bought.
- notatoad 10y ago
  The "other bets" category accounts for $185mm in total revenue. By most normal reckoning, that has taken off. It looks small by google standards and compared the the spending on other bets, but that's a lot of money. IIRC, most of the revenue and cost in "other bets" comes from Google Fibre. It's a signficant up-front investment for a fairly reliable long term revenue stream. treating the whole other bets category as R&D is not really correct. this isn't just google X.
ocdtrekkie 10y ago
I've long held that self-driving cars are a marketing ploy by Google. Their lead, Chris Urmson, frequently speaks as if it's only a couple years away. One of his famous phrases was that his daughter, 14, should never have to get a driver's license, if he met his goal. He's spoken in front of Congress, acting like the laws are the only thing holding them back, which is false. I'd absolutely call him out on the things he said to Congress being outright lies. At the same time Google has bragged about their car's previously impeccable safety record, they've admitted in reports to the DMV that the only reason they didn't cause 13 accidents in a year was their test drivers... trained humans. The real safety system in the car. But everyone thinks Google is the leading edge of innovation "because they make self-driving cars and stuff".
- honkhonkpants 10y ago
  Yeah but Google _does_ make self-driving cars. You can see them all over Mountain View. They drive themselves. It's amazing.
tjl 10y ago
There's a number of projects as part of Google X that have little to do with any of Google's core businesses. They don't really need engineers specializing in fluid mechanics outside of Google X. I interviewed for a mechanical engineering Google X position a few years back. I note that the project I interviewed for still hasn't come out of their lab yet.
dredmorbius 10y ago
I've strongly suspected this of corporate R&D for decades. AT&T, IBM, Xerox, Microsoft. Now Google and Facebook.
fragola 10y ago
Yes, I think this is all about the mystique of Google as an exciting and innovative place to work. I mean, it is essentially an ad company. (No offense to Google, what they do is really very cool and the scale is mind boggling. But capturing ad revenue doesn't capture the imagination)

asdfologist 10y ago

That entire thread is filled with snark/speculation and lacks any actual facts. Is it that inconceivable that Google believes that one or more of these moonshots might actually take off?

hueving 10y ago
Well I'm sure the people working on it think one might take off. But if you're taking the pessimistic view it doesn't matter if they never succeed as long as the smart people are kept busy working for them.
- Jach 10y ago
  It's a clever argument that might convince certain purse-holders, who are optimistic or pessimistic about the success, that it's in the company's best interest either way. I don't think Google's under full control of the sociopaths yet that this sort of "locked up" argument is needed, or is felt internally by very many upper level managers. It's also just not a great strategy if you're worried about potential future competitors given that employees are free citizens, not slaves, and California has no non-compete laws. Industry (let alone tech industry, let alone Californian tech industry) is littered with successful offshoots started by individuals and teams who used to work together at one company, and quit or were fired en masse to start working on something else in the same domain, taking their experience with them and owing their former company nothing. Facebook's strategy of "buy any threat" is a lot more sound, even if it too is vulnerable when the threat refuses to be bought.
notatoad 10y ago
The "other bets" category accounts for $185mm in total revenue. By most normal reckoning, that has taken off. It looks small by google standards and compared the the spending on other bets, but that's a lot of money. IIRC, most of the revenue and cost in "other bets" comes from Google Fibre. It's a signficant up-front investment for a fairly reliable long term revenue stream. treating the whole other bets category as R&D is not really correct. this isn't just google X.

ocdtrekkie 10y ago

I've long held that self-driving cars are a marketing ploy by Google. Their lead, Chris Urmson, frequently speaks as if it's only a couple years away. One of his famous phrases was that his daughter, 14, should never have to get a driver's license, if he met his goal. He's spoken in front of Congress, acting like the laws are the only thing holding them back, which is false. I'd absolutely call him out on the things he said to Congress being outright lies. At the same time Google has bragged about their car's previously impeccable safety record, they've admitted in reports to the DMV that the only reason they didn't cause 13 accidents in a year was their test drivers... trained humans. The real safety system in the car. But everyone thinks Google is the leading edge of innovation "because they make self-driving cars and stuff".

honkhonkpants 10y ago
Yeah but Google _does_ make self-driving cars. You can see them all over Mountain View. They drive themselves. It's amazing.

tjl 10y ago

There's a number of projects as part of Google X that have little to do with any of Google's core businesses. They don't really need engineers specializing in fluid mechanics outside of Google X. I interviewed for a mechanical engineering Google X position a few years back. I note that the project I interviewed for still hasn't come out of their lab yet.

dredmorbius 10y ago

I've strongly suspected this of corporate R&D for decades. AT&T, IBM, Xerox, Microsoft. Now Google and Facebook.

fragola 10y ago

Yes, I think this is all about the mystique of Google as an exciting and innovative place to work. I mean, it is essentially an ad company. (No offense to Google, what they do is really very cool and the scale is mind boggling. But capturing ad revenue doesn't capture the imagination)