Makani is the first Alphabet company to be wrapped up since Sundar Pichai took over the reins in December. It was part of the company’s “Other Bets” division, which also invests in self-driving cars and smart-city projects, and which lost US$4.8 billion last year. (Financial Times)

Talking point: Despite successfully demonstrating a flight off the coast of Norway last year, ”the road to commercial viability is a much longer and riskier road than we’d hoped … it no longer makes sense for Makani to be an Alphabet company,” said Astro Teller, Alphabet X head and chairman of Makani’s board. Founded in 2006, Makani created airborne wind turbines (or energy kites). The California-based company was acquired by Google in 2013 as part of its Google X “moonshot” wing. It became a standalone Alphabet subsidiary last year after an investment from Royal Dutch Shell. Concerns about the technology remained: in 2018, an EU report pointed out, “The technology still has a long way to go before it can reach commercialisation.” Makani CEO Fort Felker said Shell is “exploring options to continue developing Makani’s technology.”