Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have long envisioned Google evolving into artificial intelligence itself. In 2010, they launched Google X (now simply 'X'), a secretive research lab dedicated to developing 'moonshot' technologies including AI, self-driving cars, and internet-beaming balloons.
Google's Secret X Lab: Where AI Dreams Are Born
When Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998, they weren't just building a search engine. They were laying the groundwork for something far more ambitious: artificial intelligence that could think like a human.
"The ultimate search engine is something as smart as people—or smarter," Page once said. "For us, working on search is a way to work on artificial intelligence."
The Birth of X
In 2010, that vision spawned Google X—a semi-secret research facility so shrouded in mystery that even many Google employees didn't know it existed. The lab operated out of an unmarked brick building about half a mile from Google's main campus, accessible only to those with special clearance.
The mission? Tackle problems that sound like science fiction:
- Self-driving cars (now Waymo)
- Internet-beaming stratospheric balloons (Project Loon)
- Smart contact lenses that measure glucose levels
- Google Glass augmented reality headsets
- Delivery drones (Wing)
"Moonshot Factory"
X employees call it the "moonshot factory." The term isn't hyperbole. Projects must meet three criteria: address a huge problem, propose a radical solution, and use breakthrough technology that's at least feasible.
What makes X unusual is its embrace of failure. The lab famously celebrates killing projects that aren't working. Teams that shut down their own moonshots get bonuses. The logic? Fail fast, learn faster.
From X to Alphabet
When Google restructured as Alphabet in 2015, X became its own subsidiary. The lab dropped "Google" from its name and now operates as simply X. But the DNA remains the same: wild ambition tempered by rigorous experimentation.
Some graduates have become billion-dollar businesses. Waymo leads the autonomous vehicle industry. Verily tackles life sciences. Wing delivers packages by drone in multiple countries.
Others didn't make it. Project Loon deflated in 2021. Google Glass never found a consumer market (though it survives in enterprise applications).
The AI Thread
Through it all, artificial intelligence runs like a common thread. Self-driving cars require AI to navigate. Loon's balloons used machine learning to surf wind currents. Even the failed projects generated AI breakthroughs that filtered back into Google's core products.
Page and Brin may have stepped back from day-to-day operations, but their original vision—Google becoming AI itself—is closer than ever. Google's DeepMind creates systems that beat world champions at Go. Their language models power conversations with millions daily.
The secret lab isn't so secret anymore. But it's still shooting for the moon.