Alphabet is reportedly abandoning its mineral robotic farming startup due to fierce industry competition and razor-thin profit margins. according to BloombergGoogle’s parent company will license some of its agricultural technology to Driscoll’s, a berry producer that has been working on Mineral, an autonomous “plant vehicle” designed to study crops, soil and other environmental factors for the past few years.
Bloomberg It said it had obtained a memo in which Mineral announced plans to move its technology “to the agricultural ecosystem to maximize the impact of artificial intelligence in agriculture” and confirmed that “Mineral will no longer be an Alphabet company.” In addition to the agreement with Driscoll’s, companies that have previously worked with Mineral are reportedly in licensing discussions.
Mineral was spun off as an independent subsidiary last year after graduating from Alphabet’s X lab, which previously launched Google Glass and Waymo’s self-driving car unit. Bloomberg According to the report, Mineral employees have been trying to find ways to continue working in recent months after it became “clear” that the company no longer had a future under Alphabet.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Scott Komar, senior vice president of global research and development at Driscoll said Bloomberg It should give Driscoll’s a perpetual license to use Mineral’s technology. “We are very disappointed with Alphabet’s decision to change direction,” Komar told the publication. “We had a really good working relationship with the Mineral team, and from our vantage point, they were just getting up to speed. And then all of a sudden, you know, the plans changed.
