This year, it’s Alphabet’s innovation lab, X, that is stealing the show. They’re even more so trying to create these “moonshot” projects as stand-alone companies. These moonshot-sized efforts seek to address some of the greatest global challenges, all through the power of game-changing technology. This strategy was beautifully illustrated with the recent launch of our two newest spinouts, Taara and Heritable Agriculture. It’s an indication too of X’s deep commitment to addressing existential challenges such as climate change and food security.
Moonshots at X are defined by three essential criteria. They need to start by really taking on the big issue. Then, they need to identify a product or service that can solve that problem and leverage creative technologies that offer a “clear path” to success. This strict definition is an embodiment of X’s overall approach to innovation—the balance of realism and wildness.
X already uses a pretty brutal testing practice to keep its projects healthy and avoid bad ideas. They look to find reasons to sunset projects that aren’t hitting their ambitious goals. Though popularized by the catchy moniker ‘moonshot,’ this strategy’s failures are made clear by its success—a 2% hit rate at X. Despite the missteps, Astro Teller, head of X (formerly Google[X]), views this metric as a key ingredient to their experimental process. He doesn’t consider it a bust.
Just in 2025, X had spun out two impressive companies that went on to great success. Taara is passionate about pushing the boundaries of wireless optical communication technology. At the same time, Heritable Agriculture uses machine learning to dramatically speed up crop breeding. These initiatives join previous successful spinouts, including Malta, Dandelion, and iyO, which have attracted external funding and expanded their impact.
X’s efforts to change the built environment significantly overlap with the global sustainable development agenda. Climate and inequity The built environment contributes to about half of the world’s solid waste and carbon dioxide emissions. Teller emphasizes the importance of this sector:
“The built environment is about 25% of the world’s solid waste, about 25% of the world’s carbon dioxide output. It’s literally on the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs — it’s where we live, where we spend most of our time.” – Astro Teller
The creation of Series X Capital has compounded X’s potential to test out these moonshot projects even more. This mission-oriented, minority-founded dedicated venture fund has raised over half-a-billion dollars. It’s centered on investing in firms that trace their roots back to X. By retaining a minority investment stake in these spinouts, X preserves strategic ties with these ventures while enabling them to operate independently.
Teller notes that this structure really helps expedite the spinout process. Unlike earlier sanguine models, such as the BRI, it requires outside investors to cede controlling stakes.
“Landing it just outside the Alphabet membrane, where we can be very tight with them, get a lot of strategic co-benefit with them, but not necessarily control them, makes sense.” – Astro Teller
This funding method allows X to dig in on the most difficult portions of its projects from the onset. Simultaneously, it protects X by giving them the ability to proactively find and kill any bad or unpromising initiatives. As Teller articulates,
“If you propose something and it sounds pretty wild…for a small amount of money, we can learn something about whether it’s a little bit more crazy than we thought.” – Astro Teller
Plus, the critical realism that this process requires contributes to a culture of intellectual honesty amongst project teams.
“If it’s a little bit more crazy than we thought, cool, high five, let’s put a bullet in its head and move on.” – Astro Teller
X has learned over the past decade that while some moonshots benefit significantly from Alphabet’s vast resources and scale, others thrive better as independent entities. Fostering that understanding has largely motivated the choice to develop spinouts that can more nimbly prioritize their objectives.
X recently unveiled its newest moonshot venture, called Anori. Yet, despite this lackluster launch, this new company is still another testament to X’s sustained attempts to leverage cutting-edge technologies in the search for big, hairy, audacious solutions.
Astro Teller summarizes the essence of this unique approach:
“But if you come to X, what you get to do is be a card counter of innovation with us, with no fear and no financial risk to yourself.” – Astro Teller
