Moonshot thinking in machine learning: Applied AI takes flight

The Team at X
X, the moonshot factory
1 min readApr 13, 2018

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Astro Teller and Martin Giles in conversation at MIT EmTech Digital 2018

A Loon balloon getting ready to take flight to Puerto Rico from our launch site in Nevada. Project Loon uses machine learning powered algorithms to keep balloons clustered over areas where connectivity is needed for as long as possible.

Astro Teller recently joined Martin Giles, San Francisco bureau chief of MIT Technology Review, on-stage at MIT EmTech Digital to discuss Artificial Intelligence (A.I) and how the Moonshot Factory is using A.I. to help unlock solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems.

Their conversation cleared-up a few misconceptions about A.I. and delved into how X projects are using A.I today — from helping balloons deliver internet to regions hit by natural disasters, to making drone delivery possible by determining whether a location in a backyard is safe for package delivery. Astro also revealed for the first time that the team at X are exploring ways A.I. could help improve food production. Watch their conversation in full below:

Attribution: Courtesy of MIT Technology Review

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X is a moonshot factory. Our mission is to invent and launch breakthrough technologies that we hope could someday make the world a radically better place.