The Team at X
@Theteamatx
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X is a moonshot factory. Our goal is to invent and launch breakthrough technologies that have the potential to solve the world's biggest problems.
Joined October 2013
What if you could read a plant like a book? What if your pants could help you up the stairs? Or what if a swimming pool could power the entire planet? We don’t know where these questions will take us, but we do know they just might lead to something radically new.
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A new chapter for #Glass: the Enterprise Edition is now available to more businesses through select Glass Partners
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We’re sad to share that Loon’s journey is coming to an end. Despite the team’s groundbreaking technical achievements the road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped — so we’ve made the difficult decision to close down Loon.
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In his commencement speech, X’s @astroteller cheers on the Class of 2020 to see and unleash their secret superpowers. Listen to the clip below and the full @iHeartRadio speech here:
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X has a new blog to share the thoughts, musings & insights from #TheTeamatX. We even have a cabinet of curiosities!
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Congratulations to our latest graduates, Loon and Wing! We can’t wait to see what you do next
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Andhra Pradesh’s @naralokesh and X’s @astroteller today confirmed that @AP_EDB will use X’s FSOC links to help bring fast, reliable internet access to more people across the state. #InternetAccess
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Congratulations Glass team on the launch of Glass Enterprise Edition 2!
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#ProjectLoon has been delivering basic internet connectivity to tens of thousands in flood-affected zones in Peru
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#ProjectLoon, in collaboration with @ATT, is now delivering some basic internet connectivity in Puerto Rico
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Machine learning powered software means that #ProjectLoon can now send small teams of balloon to where people need service
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Since turning on service, #ProjectLoon has delivered basic internet connectivity to more than 100K people in Puerto Rico.
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Do you get energized by the possibility of learning something new and complex? If so, the dopamine pathways in your brain may be highly sensitive to the reward value of information — so, in other words, you might just be a nerd. (via @sbkaufman)
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Over the last week, #ProjectLoon has delivered basic Internet connectivity to tens of thousands of people in Puerto Rico.
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Makani’s time as a company has come to an end — but we hope their journey of innovation will continue. Today, we’re proud to share their 13 years of insight and technical development with the world. Thank you to everyone who supported Makani along the way.
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Small teams of #ProjectLoon balloons are being launched from Nevada to deliver emergency connectivity to Puerto Rico.
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The #ProjectLoon team at X is exploring if it’s possible to bring emergency connectivity to Puerto Rico. Read more
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What if robots could be as easy to use as computers are today? Introducing Intrinsic: a new Alphabet company creating software to make industrial robots easier for businesses, entrepreneurs, and developers to use.
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Recognized with a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988, Gertrude Elion helped pioneer "rational drug design" and shattered conventional wisdom with her "final jewel" — antiviral drugs that targeted viruses without side effects. (via @jpatadams)
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Why waste renewable energy when you can store it in molten salt?
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As we come to the end of X's 10th anniversary, we’re sharing stories, lessons, and insights about moonshot-taking from our last 10 years. As we head into our next decade, you can keep up with the latest by signing up for our new quarterly newsletter at
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With @GoogleAI, former X project Everyday Robots have created “PaLM-SayCan” — a combination of language model PaLM with robot learning algorithms. Able to follow abstract, natural language commands, these bots are on their way to becoming truly "everyday."
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“X is a moonshot in and of itself, but unlike most things at X, our breakthrough idea isn’t a technology. It’s our people.” After 10 years of operating a moonshot factory, @AstroTeller reflects on what he’s learned #x10th
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With service in #PuertoRico returning to normal levels, we’ll be winding down #ProjectLoon's service to the island. Thanks to @ATT & all our partners who made it possible to deliver basic connectivity to more than 200K people over the last few months.
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Daydreaming through a bout of writer's block? It may just be your brain getting you ready for a burst of creativity. Studying the brain-wave patterns behind different types of thinking, @AlisonGopnik's lab at @UCBerkeley found merit to the wandering mind.
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After five years of development at X, Makani is now partnering with @Shell to bring Makani to offshore environments:
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What if you could prevent deforestation with digital noses? Or improve cybersecurity with inflatable habitats? Play Moonshots!, a new game from X, to flex your moonshot thinking muscles and brainstorm radical solutions to the the world’s biggest problems:
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Thought beancounting was boring? Our AI model brings some color to the field with a "disco vision" effect that makes it easier for growers to see and count how many soybeans are growing (and grooving) above-ground.
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The electric grid is an engineering marvel, but it wasn’t built for modern challenges. Harnessing the potential of technologies like AI and ML, we can reimagine how we make, move and use power to unlock the decarbonizing potential of the grid.
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During a talk at X, @celestekidd examined the idea of certainty: "My goal as a human and also as a scientist is to try and make my beliefs generate the most accurate predictions. And also to just accept that you don't have direct access to the truth."
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As X graduate @Waymo prepares to launch its commercial ride-hailing service later this year, see what a day-in-the-life looks like for its self-driving vans. Via @andyjayhawk 🚙🚙🚙
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Amber was an early-stage mental health project exploring new ways to better measure and monitor mental health. The team recently wrapped up their work and today we’re making Amber’s technology and research findings available to the mental health community.
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From internet balloons to self-driving cars, @Entrepreneur summarizes several of X's projects. More moonshots on the way. (via @NinaZipkin)
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"Ocean conservation is a social justice issue," says @ayanaeliza in this Q&A with @AlexwilliamsNYC. "The ocean is trying its best to buffer us from our worst, right? We need to return the favor."
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Earlier this year, @GoogleAI introduced PaLM, a 540-billion-parameter language model with breakthrough capabilities. This week, X graduate Everyday Robots applied PaLM to its learning robots, unlocking new possibilities for human-robot interaction.
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X’s Adam Woodworth knows how to celebrate #StarWarsDay. Check out his homemade RC Lambda Shuttle!
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1. Thanks @FCC & Puerto Rican authorities for your support as we try to bring emergency connectivity to Puerto Rico with Loon.
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It’s a week of firsts for X graduate Loon: congratulations on your 1st engagement in Africa & 1st commercial partnership with @telkomkenya in your 1st week as an “Other Bet”!
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Congratulations to @Pixar co-founder and X advisor Ed Catmull, who has won the Turing Prize with Patrick Hanrahan. Their Oscar-award winning software RenderMan revolutionized computer animation and the visual effects industry. (via @techreview)
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When you’ve got that Friday feeling, but you’re also a robot that’s still learning how physics works #relatable
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Throwback to when the DeLorean visited X and we discussed how immersive fictional worlds can help us build a better future, with guests @KariByron, @PhilSzostak, @GordonTarpley, and a certain garbage-collecting robot. #BackToTheFutureDay
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The language we use shapes how we see the world — and it's a powerful tool to create an innovative, entrepreneurial culture. From icebergs and tiger beetles to "monkey-or-pedestal?", storyteller @courtneyhohne shares the ABCs of X's vocabulary:
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X's moonshot for the electric grid has a new name: Tapestry, reflecting the team's mission to weave together the technologies, information and partners that we'll need to support the transition to a clean, reliable and equitable grid
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"You can’t pre-business-plan a moonshot any more than you can paint a masterpiece via color-by-numbers given to you by a committee." @AstroTeller shares what he's learned about creating a culture of radical innovation and creativity with @FastCompany:
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Today we’re open sourcing Project Amber’s EEG hardware device and software on GitHub in the hopes that the mental health research community can build upon our work.
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"Moonshots don’t begin with brainstorming clever answers. They start with finding the right questions" @TheAtlantic
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Introducing Malta: A new approach to grid-scale energy storage.
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Crediting her patience to the "intense isolation" of scarlet and rheumatic fever as a child, Julia Robinson collaborated with U.S. and Soviet mathematicians to solve Hilbert's 10th problem — probing the limits of mathematical knowledge. (via @evelynjlamb)
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How might breakthroughs in robotics and AI help others reimagine what they can do and make with industrial robots? Intrinsic – X's robotics software and AI moonshot – is leaving the rapid prototyping environment of X to become Alphabet's newest company.
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#cybersecurity has long needed a moonshot. X’s latest graduate @chroniclesec is dedicated to finding and stopping cyber attacks before they cause harm
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“As Wing and Loon have shown us, the most audacious thing you can do is to work on the hardest part of the problem first.” @AstroTeller reflects on what Wing and Loon’s journeys at X have taught us about taking moonshots:
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We're opening up 13 years' worth of Makani's technical progress — so anyone can explore their design, development and testing processes. We hope these help others learn new skills, unpack their own technical challenges or spark new insights.🪁
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“In place of blind denial and paralyzing pessimism, we need a radical strain of optimism.” A chat between @nxthompson and @binajv brings focus to long-term thinking in a distracted world:
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The microscopic scale of viruses once made them difficult to see. June Almeida, who left school at 16 without formal qualifications, is credited with inventing a technique to identify rubella and HIV — and, in 1964, the first coronavirus. (via @syd_bc)
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Once swinging an actual pie from a string pendulum to explain the role of π in a calculation, @standupmaths blends math and comedy. On #NPRShortwave he recalls how minor math mistakes — with numbers just "off by one" — can have major consequences. #PiDay
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After nearly 6 years prototyping their technology here at X, our Everyday Robots team is leaving the lab to help their robots learn around campus. At lunch, Googlers might spot a prototype learning to wipe tables in the cafes, push in chairs, and more.
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Introducing the Everyday Robot Project: teaching robots how to learn so that one day they’ll be able to help us in everyday life.
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Robots rolling out of the lab, connectivity across the Congo River, building a better electric grid, and more — we’re sharing some of our favorite moonshot moments from 2021. If you'd like X's latest updates in 2022, sign up for our quarterly newsletter:
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Congrats to the Loon team on achieving 190 days of continuous internet balloon flight, traveling over 122,000 kms! #Moonshot #ProjectLoon
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Congratulations to our colleagues at @DeepMind on their release of the #AlphaFold Protein Structure Database:.
Today with @emblebi, we're launching the #AlphaFold Protein Structure Database, which offers the most complete and accurate picture of the human proteome, doubling humanity’s accumulated knowledge of high-accuracy human protein structures - for free: 1/
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Want innovation? Make being audacious the path of least resistance. Here’s how it works. #TedTalks #AstroTeller #10X
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How might "fish-al recognition" help us figure out what's up under the waves? — X's Project Tidal is exploring how to protect ocean health and marine life, while feeding humanity "at scale"? Make some waves on #WorldTunaDay, dive into our open roles: 🐟🐟
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Over 2B people don’t have access to safe drinking water. X's H2E project explored whether technology to harvest drinking water from the air, powered by the sun, could make a dent on this huge problem. Now, the team is making their work available to all.
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Rise and shine campers! Today’s the first day of #CampMoonshotTKS, a two-week student immersion program X is co-hosting with @theksociety. Instead of bonfires and sleeping bags, students will work with big ideas and breakthrough tech, pitching moonshots instead of tents.🏕🚀
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X has been working on climate challenges for more than a decade, with half of our current moonshots focusing on climate change-related issues. Google’s 2023 Environmental Report highlights some of this work through X projects: Tapestry & Tidal and X graduates: Mineral & @Waymo.
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Major milestone for one of X's graduates today: @Wing became the first drone delivery company to receive Air Carrier Certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
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#ProjectLoon's machine learning algorithms plot a balloon’s course as “a series of maneuvers decided upon one by one." @IEEESpectrum looks at Puerto Rico after #HurricaneMaria
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Congratulations to @aazibelman on her appointment to @POTUS's National Infrastructure Advisory Council. From @AEMO_Energy to X, Audrey will be sharing her international experience in transforming and decarbonizing power systems.
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Congratulations to our colleagues over @Google for reaching 100% renewable energy in 2017. We're proud to be part of this effort to support clean energy.
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Over the last few years X's computational agriculture team has been working with breeders and growers to find new ways to see the plant world. Today, we're pleased to introduce our new name: Project Mineral.
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"Moonshots are ideas so big, they’re considered impossible." On this podcast, @wolfejosh of @Lux_Capital explores "moonshot thinking" and how we can create a world where more people take more moonshots more often. Count us in! (via @bizcasualpod)
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Learn how to become a security engineer from experts at.X graduate @chroniclesec with @udacity's new nanodegree program.
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Buzzing around, bumblebees take notes on their favorite flowers, but @foteini_pas and @hcs_lambert found they can also prompt plants to bloom early. Solving the mysteries of busy bees could help agriculturalists coax crops into flourishing. @VirginiaMorell
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Delighted to welcome @alueducation students last week! These budding entrepreneurs from across Africa and the U.S. joined us at X for a day of moonshot mingling and radically creative thinking — and a group pic with the Mineral rover.
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Ready, player X! Today we’re excited to host Doug Chiang of Lucasfilm, @KariByron, @PhilSzostak, @mantisrobot, @GordonTarpley, and Google’s Tony Le for a discussion on world-building — and how fiction can help us imagine our future.
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Deck the halls with boughs of holly.Fa la la la la, la la la la.'Tis the season to be jolly.Don we now homemade apparel.🎶🎶🎶
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Please do not erase! @jessicawynne6 photographed "the art of mathematics in chalk" — including the chalkboard of X postdoc and resident mathematician @math3ma as she attempted to understand the hidden structure in natural language. (via @ClaraMoskowitz)
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2. Loon can only deliver internet service with a telco partner. We’re making progress & will provide updates asap
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M is for Mineral. Congratulations project Mineral on graduating from X to become Alphabet’s newest company:
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Up, up and away! Congratulations to the Makani team on their first successful offshore flight in Norway! An exciting next step toward unlocking renewable energy in water that's too deep for fixed-bottom wind turbines.
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This is what moonshot-takers look like. Here’s to female innovators & moonshot takers everywhere! #Internationalwomensday
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Up, up and away! X graduate @Wing is preparing to launch its most advanced U.S. trial program: With @FedEx, @Walgreens, and local retailer Sugar Magnolia, Wing’s drone delivery will get started this fall in Christiansburg, Virginia (@CburgVA_Gov).
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It’s the last day of #CampMoonshotTKS at X! 20 high-school innovators from @theksociety have been brainstorming, prototyping, and pitching their own moonshots — from pollution-busting self-cleaning textiles, to spectroscope-enabled disease-detection. Thanks for all the fun!
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From ancient runes to modern emoji, the power of the pictogram persists. Revisit the language of ancient Egyptian with @googlearts using machine learning to translate hieroglyphics — no Rosetta Stone needed. 🌍 #WorldEmojiDay (via @CristinaCriddle)
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Using four-digit codes on just 36 keys, @IBM's Chinese typewriter could produce up to 5,400 Chinese characters — all memorized by a woman unnamed in archival video footage. After a decade spent searching, @tsmullaney shared the story of Lois Lew:
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Introducing Tidal: A moonshot to protect the ocean and feed humanity sustainably.
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X Graduate @Waymo shows what it’s *really* like to be driven around by robots (spoiler alert: extremely convenient, especially if you’re hoping to play saxophone in the backseat!).
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Some X roboticists took “New year, new you” literally, creating several weightroom-inspired bots during a friendly competition over the holidays. We’re just wondering, do they sweat pixels? 🏋️♀️ 🤖
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With partners around the world, the Tapestry team is in learning and development partnerships with organizations who know the intricacies of the grid so they can build the tools we'll need to support the transition to a clean, reliable and affordable grid.
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Fancy a ride in a #selfdriving Jaguar? X graduate @Waymo will add 20,000 self-driving Jaguar I-PACEs to its fleet – that's enough to drive a million trips a day.
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In 2017 a few X engineers pushed a strange contraption through a strawberry field — and planted the seeds of a budding new moonshot for the agriculture industry. Five years later, that project has blossomed into Alphabet's newest company: Mineral.
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