Google parent Alphabet has unveiled a new “Moonshot” project to develop software for robotics that could be used in a variety of industries.
To expand beyond its core search and advertising business, Google founded Alphabet in 2015 as a holding company that oversees various “other bets” from the autonomous vehicle unit to helium balloons that provide solar-powered internet services in remote areas.
Intrinsic develops software tools for making industrial robots, which can be used to make everything from solar panels to automobiles, and has been developing its technology for over five years in Google’s Research Unit X.
The new unit, named Intrinsic, will “become an independent alphabet company” and seek industry partners to advance its work to manufacture everything from solar panels to automobiles, the new unit’s leader, Wendy Tan-White, said in a blog post .
“Intrinsic is working to unlock the creative and economic potential of industrial robotics for millions of other companies, entrepreneurs and developers,” she said.
“We develop software tools that make industrial robots … more user-friendly, cheaper and more flexible so that more people can use them to develop new products, businesses and services.”
Intrinsic emerged from Alphabet X, the so-called “Moonshot” project, which started the self-driving car division Waymo and the life science group Verily.
“We are currently looking for partners in the automotive, electronics and healthcare sectors who are already using industrial robotics and want to learn together,” says Tan-White, who founded the website building platform Moonfruit.
Intrinsic can also help “support a shift towards a more sustainable and equitable way of manufacturing” by enabling low-cost production, she said.
“Currently only 10 countries produce 70 percent of the world’s goods,” she said. “This means that most things are manufactured far away from their end users, which is causing global transport emissions and many countries and companies are missing out on economic opportunities.”
Known as Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory, X is a research and development unit that acts as a kindergarten for the company’s many offshoot projects such as Waymo, Wing, Makani, Loon, and others, helping them gain a foothold as viable separate entities.
(With contributions from agencies)
