![]() Krafcik said that the car opens the portal to the internet to send and receive traffic reports, but for the most part remains offline. Most of the calculations are done inside the car, which is capable of recognizing thousands of objects and understanding their purpose. See Also: Honda in talks with Google to build self-driving vehicles “When we say that our cars are autonomous, it’s not just that there’s not a human driver, but also that there is not a continuous cloud connection to the car.” “Our cars communicate with the outside world only when they need to, so there isn’t a continuous line that’s able to be hacked, going into the car,” said Waymo CEO John Krafcik to the Financial Times. Not to be redistributed, copied, or modified in any way.Google’s self-driving division, Waymo, has revealed that its cars receive limited internet access to minimize the window for hackers to penetrate the system. All rights reserved.įT and Financial times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd. That’s what buys the ongoing support from Alphabet.” “Part of the reason that they’re supportive for us to continue to do that is when something doesn’t make sense, we make the hard choices to not continue doing them. “The appetite from Sundar and from Ruth for us to continue to make smart, exciting bets about the future has, if anything, gone up,” Teller said. ![]() Teller told the Financial Times that investment in moonshots would remain strong under Pichai and Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s chief financial officer. “We believe that Makani remains one of the leading airborne-wind technologies in the world and we are exploring options to continue developing the technology within our New Energies strategy.”Īlphabet pointed to other climate change projects within the company, such as drone delivery firm Wing, as an indication the company was not changing its focus. ![]() “Offshore wind has the potential to reach the large-scale generation capacity that society needs to transition to a lower-carbon energy system” said Dorine Bosman, vice-president of Shell Wind Development. Shell said it was “exploring options” to take on Makani’s technology. “The technology still has a long way to go before it can reach commercialization,” it read, noting that challenges remained in demonstrating the reliable, autonomous operation that would make the concept viable. “But it’s really great for the world.”Īn EU report published in 2018 concurred with Alphabet’s assessment. “That’s very sad for Makani,” Teller said. While Makani at first felt it could provide a competitive advantage by using its technology on land and in shallow water-as well as deep water-advancements in competing technologies meant that was likely no longer the case. ![]() In August, Makani held its first test flight off the coast of Norway.īut Alphabet decided the opportunity to greatly disrupt the energy sector had begun to dwindle. AdvertisementĪs is typical for X companies that show potential for commercialization, Makani was spun out of the lab in February last year following an undisclosed investment from Royal Dutch Shell. It was hoped that Makani’s technology could be used in areas of the ocean too deep to set up fixed wind turbines and where winds are strongest. Makani’s kites were designed to fly as high as 1,000ft, or about 300m, above the water while attached to floating buoys weighed down with anchors, instead of the full ocean platforms required to support typical offshore wind farms. A small team will stay on for a few months to collate Makani’s research. It’s part of my job to assess that and make sure that we’re picking the best ones we can for Alphabet to spend its money on.”Īlphabet would not confirm the size of Makani, only saying it consisted of “dozens” of employees that it hoped it could be reassigned to other climate change-related work at Alphabet. “Our estimate of the rewards for the world, the reward to Alphabet, and the risks and costs to get there. they change over time. “It’s been a very hard choice for us,” said Astro Teller, chief executive of X, speaking to the Financial Times on Tuesday. It was developing airborne wind turbines that could be tethered to floating buoys, removing the need for the expensive ocean bed structures needed to support permanent turbines. Makani was acquired in 2013 and taken into the experimental “X” lab. Other Bets lost $4.8 billion last year-widening from a $3.4 billion loss in 2018. Sundar Pichai, who took over as Alphabet chief executive, is under pressure to stem losses from the company’s “Other Bets” segment, which includes endeavors such as self-driving cars and Internet-providing balloons. Google-parent Alphabet is shutting down its power-generating kites company Makani, the first closure of a so-called moonshot project since founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped back from management in December.
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