Google Ideas, the think tank for internet technology developer Google, pivoted yesterday to become a technology incubator called Jigsaw.
Google Ideas was founded in 2010 to devise ways of using the internet and online technology to help overcome societal issues such as censorship, corruption and violence, which affect some of the places where the internet was relatively new.
Jigsaw will seek to incubate and invest in technology that will expand information access for vulnerable populations and combat cybersecurity threats. Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas since it was launched and a former advisor at the US State Department, will continue to head the unit.
The move follows months of restructuring at Google, a subsidiary of holding company Alphabet since last year. Corporate venturing units Google Capital and Google Ventures (now called GV) now operate under Alphabet and not Google.
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, said in a post on Medium yesterday: “The team’s mission is to use technology to tackle the toughest geopolitical challenges, from countering violent extremism to thwarting online censorship to mitigating the threats associated with digital attacks.”