Google’s Parent Births New Businesses: Internet Balloons and Drones

Google’s efforts to build delivery drones and internet-beaming balloons are no longer just science projects. Both ventures are becoming their own independent businesses within Alphabet, the technology conglomerate that owns Google and now 13 other units. Their so-called graduation from Alphabet’s research lab, X, means the delivery-drone and balloon-internet teams may now be on a path to soon offer commercial services and earn revenue. The delivery-drone unit, named Wing, has built 11-pound drones with fixed wings for gliding to destinations and 12 rotors for hovering over homes while winching down deliveries. Wing tested the aircraft in Australia in 2017, delivering burritos and medicine to customers who ordered the items on a Wing mobile app. Alphabet’s other new unit, called Loon, is building high-altitude balloons that deliver internet connections to rural or disaster-stricken areas. Loon’s massive balloons navigate wind currents in the stratosphere, roughly 13 miles above ground, to cluster around areas with poor connectivity. Loon partners with local telecommunications companies to improve cell service on the ground, acting as a sort of floating, temporary cell tower.