X is a research and development organisation within Alphabet founded in 2010 to invent and launch breakthrough technologies. Based in Mountain View, California, it operates as a multidisciplinary facility where teams of inventors, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs pursue projects intended to address seemingly intractable problems across diverse fields.
The organisation has incubated and spun off several significant ventures. Waymo emerged from early work on autonomous vehicles and now leads development of self-driving car technology. Verily focuses on life sciences and healthcare innovation. Wing develops drone delivery systems. Other active initiatives include Project Loon, which explored internet access via high-altitude balloons; A-Life, an AI-powered biology effort; Tapestry, working on grid intelligence and energy systems; and mineral, addressing sustainable agriculture.
X's technical work spans artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and robotics, aerospace systems, life sciences, biotechnology, agricultural technology and emerging technologies more broadly. The organisation characterises itself as a "Moonshot Factory" - its name reflecting both a variable for unknown solutions and exponential impact - and pursues projects that attempt to transform speculative possibilities into engineered reality.
