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Loon, the internet-beaming weather balloon project that originally started within Google's X Lab, is being shuttered, Alphabet announced today.
After nine years of attempting to turn the idea of giant, autonomous floating weather balloons that send internet down to the world below them into a business, X lab head Astro Teller wrote in a blog that the bubble has finally burst. Although Loon did help out in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and had signed deals with telecoms companies in Africa as recently as last summer, it seems the reality of trying to use these difficult-to-navigate balloons for reliable internet service became too much.
Loon is part of a cadre of millstones around Alphabet's neck. Beyond its sturdy ad business from Google, most of the other companies it has created, such as Google Fiber, Waymo, Wing and Verily — which it calls Other Bets — have yet to turn a profit. Alphabet killed off its Makani project, an attempt generate energy with small airborne turbines, a little less than a year ago.
Most of the Loon team will be disbanded, according to Teller, apart from a small team that will be calling the balloons back home. Teller also said that Google will be pledging $10 million "to support nonprofits and businesses focussed on connectivity, Internet, entrepreneurship and education in Kenya." For the quarter ending Sept. 30, Other Bets lost Alphabet roughly $1.1 billion.
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
A Bloomberg-backed ‘tech co’ is building campaign tools for the left and right
The stealthy firm, which has been buying political tech firms for more than a year, is backed by Emma Bloomberg's philanthropic group.
The new firm, called Tech co., is backed by Michael Bloomberg's daughter, Emma Bloomberg.
A new company backed by Michael Bloomberg's daughter Emma Bloomberg has been quietly buying political tech firms and going on a hiring spree, as it seeks to create a digital organizing platform that operates "outside of a traditional 'Red/Blue' partisan paradigm."
Neither the existence of the firm, called simply Tech co. for now, nor its high-profile funder have been previously reported, though it's been up and running for at least a year. But a spate of recent job listings seeking data scientists, behavioral scientists and engineers have circulated through the insular political tech whisper mill, sparking curiosity as the startup prepares to emerge from stealth mode this spring.
Building better relationships in the age of all-remote work
How Stripe, Xero and ModSquad work with external partners and customers in Slack channels to build stronger, lasting relationships.
Every business leader knows you can learn the most about your customers and partners by meeting them face-to-face. But in the wake of Covid-19, the kinds of conversations that were taking place over coffee, meals and in company halls are now relegated to video conferences—which can be less effective for nurturing relationships—and email.
Email inboxes, with hard-to-search threads and siloed messages, not only slow down communication but are also an easy target for scammers. Earlier this year, Google reported more than 18 million daily malware and phishing emails related to Covid-19 scams in just one week and more than 240 million daily spam messages.
Blockchain, QR codes and your phone: the race to build vaccine passports
Digital verification systems could give people the freedom to work and travel. Here's how they could actually happen.
One day, you might not need to carry that physical passport around, either.
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.
There will come a time, hopefully in the near future, when you'll feel comfortable getting on a plane again. You might even stop at the lounge at the airport, head to the regional office when you land and maybe even see a concert that evening. This seemingly distant reality will depend upon vaccine rollouts continuing on schedule, an open-sourced digital verification system and, amazingly, the blockchain.
Several countries around the world have begun to prepare for what comes after vaccinations. Swaths of the population will be vaccinated before others, but that hasn't stopped industries decimated by the pandemic from pioneering ways to get some people back to work and play. One of the most promising efforts is the idea of a "vaccine passport," which would allow individuals to show proof that they've been vaccinated against COVID-19 in a way that could be verified by businesses to allow them to travel, work or relax in public without a great fear of spreading the virus.
Mike Murphy ( @mcwm) is the director of special projects at Protocol, focusing on the industries being rapidly upended by technology and the companies disrupting incumbents. Previously, Mike was the technology editor at Quartz, where he frequently wrote on robotics, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.