"Google X" actually made (and maybe still makes) a lot of sense. The history is that around 2010 Google wanted to kick off experimental projects, in part becau

"Google X" actually made (and maybe still makes) a lot of sense. The history is that around 2010 Google wanted to kick off experimental projects, in part because they were starting to lose top talent to startups. Since they had Google Maps and Google Images and Google Earth and Google Mail etc, they named the new org Google X as a space for the new and undefined projects.