Secretive "moonshot lab" Google X just lopped the "Google" from its name and debuted a new logo, Re/code's Mark Bergen reports.
Since parent company Alphabet formed last fall, various subsidiaries have started rebranding.
Google Ventures became GV. Google Life Sciences became Verily. And now Google X is just "X."
Besides the new look, X has also instituted some internal changes as well, Google confirmed to Business Insider.
The lab has created a new product and engineering team called Foundry which will help different X projects evolve from hazy ideas into actual products.
The team, led by Google X vet Obi Felten, will spend time "de-risking" different projects to the point where they're ready for a dedicated manager. The Foundry team will also be the objective voice that will decide whether a project should move forward or die.
Current X projects currently include Loon, which creates internet-beaming balloons and Wing, which is trying to create delivery drones. Other ideas will have to "graduate" from Foundry before becoming independent X initiatives.
We've already seen Foundry's influence in action through X's take-over of Google's robotics division. Although the robotics group entered as an unfocused collection of acquired companies, a source told Business Insider that the move into X would help refocus the group by defining specific real-world problems that it could address with products.
If Foundry finds a product or market for those robotics efforts that it deems worthy of further investment, a project will move forward. Otherwise, the project will either move out of X or close down.
