On 04 Apr 2022, Wi1liam T T <willyt1955@yahoooomail.com> posted some
news:t2fdu4$3j6gt$14@news.freedyn.de:

> Google rats all users out to the Federal government.

Google parent Alphabet will reportedly lay off dozens of workers in a
secretive division that develops new technology as part of the search
giant�s broader cost-cutting push.

In recent months, the division, called X Lab, has been in talks with
venture capitalists, sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms on
funding, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Getting outside funding would allow X Lab projects to be spun out more
easily, functioning as independent startups with support from Alphabet and
other investors, one of the people told Bloomberg, which also viewed a
company email on the topic.

The innovation lab has worked on high-tech projects like Wing, which
consists of delivery drones; Loom, an internet network of balloons; and
Makani, kites that generate wind energy.

�X tackles global challenges like climate change and connectivity and we
continually look for ways to streamline how we bring our moonshots to
life,� a spokeswoman for the division told Reuters.

The move comes days after Google said it would lay off hundreds of
employees in its advertising sales team and its hardware, Voice Assistant
and augmented reality teams amid its aggressive campaign to cut costs and
improve efficiency.

Few of X�s projects have turned into durable businesses, Bloomberg
reported. Perhaps the most widely known of its endeavors is Waymo, a fleet
of autonomous vehicles standing for �Way Forward in Mobility.�

�We�re expanding our approach to focus on spinning out more projects as
independent companies funded through market-based capital,� Astro Teller,
who leads X, wrote in the email.

�We�ll do this by opening our scope to collaborate with a broader base of
industry and financial partners, and by continuing to emphasize lean teams
and capital efficiency,� Teller added, per Bloomberg.

As part of its restructuring, X is laying off dozens of employees,
Bloomberg reported, though it wasn�t immediately clear how many positions
will be affected by the headcount reduction.

The layoffs are focused on support staff, one person with knowledge of the
cuts told Bloomberg.

Representatives for X Lab did not immediately respond to The Post�s
request for comment.

X Lab, which has been described as a �semi-secret research and development
facility,� was launched in 2010 by Google co-founders Larry Page and
Sergey Brin.

In recent years, the lab � which is based out of Google�s corporate
headquarters, the Googleplex, in Mountain View, Calif. � has come to be
known as X, with increased pressure to turn its speculative projects into
profitable businesses as Alphabet looks to cut costs across the board.

So far this month, Google has already confirmed layoffs across multiple
parts of its empire �including several hundred job cuts on its ad sales
team and more than 1,000 combined workers in other units, including its
core engineering team and the hardware division responsible for devices
such as the Pixel, Nest and Fitbit.

The job cuts marked a rough start to the year for Google�s workforce,
whose headcount was reduced by more than 12,000 throughout 2023.

https://nypost.com/2024/01/22/tech/alphabets-x-division-lays-off-dozens-
of-workers-to-further-cut-costs/