#Google 's famed corporate research lab, first launched as #GoogleX, was a sandbox for the company founders and its band of experimental scientists. When Google became #Alphabet, the lab announced a sparer name and a leaner mission: To transform those sandbox projects into real commercial operations. On paper, that is happening. News came out on Friday that the unit had hired a seasoned online travel exec for its self-driving car team. A few days earlier, it recruited a broadband veteran to head its #ProjectLoon internet balloon initiative. But the reality is murkier. Several people who have recently left X and those close to it describe the Alphabet unit as sputtering, unable to bring projects to life. They say the issues at X aren't technical hurdles, but a combination of red tape and knotty internal politics. Rather than accelerating the “ #moonshot factory,” sources say the Google-to-Alphabet reshuffle has clogged it up. The Alphabet company that is meant to create new Alphabet companies is struggling to get them out the door. And I have heard repeated talk of a coming shake-up at the division.
http://www.recode.net/2016/8/29/12663630/google-x-alphabet-moonshot
