Google is no longer a place for crazy ideas.

Earlier this week, Google more than halved the number of projects in its startup incubator Area 120. The purpose of this section is to give employees the opportunity to experiment and realize projects that interest them. Most of them are imaginative, irrational, crazy ideas. But the company hopes for another breakthrough like AdSense, Gmail or Google News.

Area 120 is Google’s internal incubator for testing new products. The team often looks for the most promising opportunities, but recently we’ve focused on projects that invest heavily in artificial intelligence and can solve user problems. Therefore, Area 120 is narrowing down which projects. To make room for new jobs. TechCrunch gmail.

Elias Roman, head of Area 120, said the focus on AI projects goes against Google’s mission to accelerate product innovation.

As the economy shifts, Google may no longer be “salty” with big bets and experimentation, experts say. Instead, he tries to focus his efforts on things that will make him money immediately, or on unconventional services like Google Cloud.

The company previously encouraged its employees to spend 20% of their time on discovery applications. Currently, CEO Sundar Pichai says the company needs to become 20% more efficient. In an announcement earlier this summer, he urged employees to “do more business.” edge He believes this is nothing more than doing more work and finding ways to cut costs, such as “cutting down trees that may or may not bear fruit in the future.”

This ghost doesn’t just affect Google. follow up informationSome recruiters focused on hiring startups are beginning to move away from Google. There’s a stereotype that employees at the US tech giant maintain old products instead of developing new ones.

One of the areas most affected by this “practice spirit” is the company’s hardware division. Earlier this week, Google canceled the Pixelbook project to cut costs. This project aims to help partners promote their Chromebook portfolio effectively. The original Pixelbook was seen as a lightning bolt that pushed manufacturers to do what they wanted, not what Google actually wanted consumers to spend.

Another hardware device isn’t as bold as Google’s Pixel phone. Most users will remember Pixel 4 with radar sensor or Pixel 2 with revolutionary changes. But now when it comes to the Pixel 7, many see it as the predecessor with a few minor updates.

It’s unfair to say Google isn’t doing anything new, analysts say. They have expanded their product range to include smartwatches and tablets. However, both have yet to find particular success with outdated designs. In the software space, Google has aggressively destroyed many projects when they were just getting started, even if they didn’t see potential in their “infancy”. That includes plans to integrate users’ bank accounts with Google Pay or the YouTube Originals app.

edge Google’s latest move shows that demand is waning. The company still spends almost $10 billion on research and development. Many core services, like the more customizable Android operating system, are still being updated and designed. The company has made several changes to Workspace that allow users to combine documents, spreadsheets, reminders, meetings and emails together. They’re also investing in Google Meet, a competitor to Zoom. However, the above changes are intended to provide users with a simpler experience rather than creating new, advanced products.

According to analysts, the company could survive with services used by the majority of the world’s internet users even if Google stops testing the idea entirely. But if Google hadn’t been innovating early, it probably wouldn’t have Gmail, virtual assistants, and ChromeOS. And if Google continues its current pragmatism, Google won’t have any more innovation related to driverless cars or cloud computing. Therefore, if a company wants to attract talent to develop products for the future, it needs to be a place where engineers can express their creativity without worrying about the problem of “cultivating the wrong tree without the fruit.” plants”.

on Thursday (Consequences edge)