X Development
X Development LLC, doing business as X, is an American semi-secret research and development facility and organization founded by Google in January 2010. X has its headquarters about a mile and a half from Google's corporate headquarters, the Googleplex, in Mountain View, California.
According to an official blog post from the company, X's mission is to "invent and launch 'moonshot' technologies that hope could make the world a radically better place." A moonshot is defined by X as the intersection of a big problem, a radical solution, and breakthrough technology. Work at X is overseen by entrepreneur scientist Astro Teller, as CEO and "Captain of Moonshots". The lab started with the development of Google's self-driving car.
Active projects
Bellwether
In April 2024, X introduced Project Bellwether, an initiative applying artificial intelligence to Earth observation data to forecast and respond to natural disasters such as wildfires, floods, and hurricanes. The project has developed tools to predict wildfire risk up to five years in advance, assess damage to infrastructure following extreme weather events, and support insurance companies in evaluating risk across portfolios. Bellwether's system processes petabytes of geospatial data and incorporates more than 20 years of environmental records. Its tools have been deployed for wildfire planning by U.S. state agencies and to assist recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene. TIME named Bellwether one of the Best Inventions of 2024, and Fast Company named it one of the Next Best Things In Tech in AI and Data for 2024.Moonshot for Circularity
In November 2024, X announced the Moonshot for Circularity, a project to accelerate the recycling and reuse of plastics and other difficult-to-process materials. The initiative uses hyperspectral imaging, artificial intelligence, and large-scale data processing to identify and sort plastics at a molecular level, aiming to improve recycling efficiency and reduce waste.Tapestry
Tapestry is an X project described as the lab's "moonshot for the electric grid." Its mission is to make the grid visible so that "everyone can access reliable, affordable, and clean energy." The team is building an AI-powered platform that unifies data across transmission and distribution systems to help utilities plan, operate, and modernize their networks. Key tools include the Grid Planning Tool, which enables long-term grid simulations, and GridAware, which uses computer vision to detect equipment issues and automate inspections.Tapestry is collaborating with grid operators in several countries, including Chile, where its tools are used in national transmission planning; PJM Interconnection in the United States, where it is helping address interconnection backlogs; and utilities in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa.
Graduated projects
Chorus
Chorus is a project that aims to improve the supply chain through sensors, software, and machine learning tools. The team had been working on the project for 3.5 years before it was revealed in March 2022.The project spun out to be an independent company in April 2025.
Glass
Project Glass is a research and development program by Google to develop an augmented reality head-mounted display. The intended purpose of Project Glass products is hands-free display of information currently available to most smartphone users, and interaction with the Internet via natural language voice commands. Google Glass has ended production as of March 15, 2023.Taara
The purpose of Taara is to expand global access to quick, affordable internet connections with beams of light. After a successful use of free-space optical communication as a part of Project Loon, X decided to conduct more tests called Taara in rural areas of India. The technology uses light beams that are developed by X's office in Visakhapatnam. As of December 2017, X had set up 2,000 units in India, through a partnership with Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited. In March 2025, Taara graduated from X to become its own independent company.Waymo
Waymo was a Google project that involved developing technology for driverless cars. In December 2016, Google transitioned the project into a new company called Waymo, housed under Google's parent company, Alphabet. The project was led by Google engineer Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View. Thrun's team at Stanford created the robotic vehicle Stanley, which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and a US$2 million prize from the United States Department of Defense. The team developing the system consisted of 15 engineers working for Google, including Chris Urmson, Mike Montemerlo, and Anthony Levandowski, who had worked on the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges.Loon
Project Loon was a project of X that aimed to bring internet access to everyone by creating an internet network of balloons flying through the stratosphere. It uses wireless routers in balloons that are above the weather and plans to give access to the internet to those who can't reach it or are in need of help. In July 2018, Loon graduated from X and was made a subsidiary of Alphabet. In January 2021, it was announced that the company would be shut down.Wing
Project Wing was a project of X that aimed to rapidly deliver products across a city by using flying vehicles, similar to the Amazon Prime Air concept. It began development in secret around 2012, with full-scale testing being carried out in Australia. In 2014, the project was publicly announced, at the same time that it was spun off to a separate company, Wing.Wing's fleet of lightweight, highly automated delivery drones transports small packages from businesses to homes and between healthcare providers. While at X, the team developed their technology, building a drone capable of flying 20 km round-trip at 130 km/h and an unmanned traffic management platform. Today, Wing operates across three continents: the United States, Europe, and Australia. In 2018, Wing became an independent company under Google's parent company Alphabet.
Malta
Malta was started in July 2017 to develop renewable energy storage systems by utilizing tanks of molten salt. The system works by transforming electrical energy to heat energy for storage, based on research by Robert B. Laughlin. Malta Inc. graduated from X in December 2018 with plans to develop a large-scale test of the technology for future commercial applications.Dandelion
Dandelion is an American geothermal heating supplier in the Northeastern United States. Prior to 2017, Dandelion was part of Google X, before becoming an independent company. Dandelion targets providing geothermal heating and cooling. The system consists of a heat pump that pipes energy to or from a house. In February 2019, Dandelion raised 16 million in a series A fundraising round.Makani
Makani was a project that was acquired by X in May 2013 designed to produce wind energy using kites. The T-shaped planes are 85 feet wide and contain 8 turbines tethered to the ground. Compared to wind turbines, Makani's kites require 90% less material. In December 2016, Makani's kite became the first energy kite in the world to generate electricity. In February 2019, Makani was separated from X and became a subsidiary of Alphabet.In February 2020, Alphabet shut down Makani. The company said "Despite strong technical progress, the road to commercialization is longer and riskier than hoped." In September 2020, Makani released the Energy Kite Collection — a three-part report and accompanying collection of open source code repositories, flight logs and technical videos from the project. It also released Pulling Power from the Sky: The Story of Makani, a documentary on the project, and made a non-assertion pledge on its patent portfolio, allowing anyone to use its patents without fear of legal reprisal.
Intrinsic
Instrinsic is a robotics software company that is developing software tools to make industrial robots easier to use, cheaper, and more flexible so they can expand the reach of consumers using them.In July 2021, it was announced that a new company called Intrinsic would be spun out of X. The team had been developing software for industrial robots at X for more than five years. The new company is led by Wendy Tan White as CEO.
Mineral
Mineral was an Alphabet company that began as a project within X focused on applying artificial intelligence and robotics to agriculture. First unveiled publicly in 2020, the team developed a plant-roving robot and a perception platform to gather large-scale crop data. During its five years at X, Mineral created AI models and a learning platform to improve crop resilience, optimize yields, and support sustainable farming.In January 2023, Mineral spun out as an independent Alphabet company. Elliott Grant is the CEO. The company collaborated with international partners, including the Alliance of Biodiversity International and CIAT, and its technologies have been tested on crops ranging from strawberries and soybeans to bananas and wheat. In 2024, Mineral's technology was acquired by Driscoll's and John Deere for integration into their agriculture operations.