Alphabet’s Sandbox Quantum Tech Group Turns Into an Independent Company
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai gestures during a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 22, 2020.
FABRICE COFFRINI | AFP | beautiful pictures
Sandbox, AlphabetQuantum Technologies Corp, is turning into an independent company, it announced Tuesday.
Alphabet has been pretty quiet about the Sandbox, which was launched in 2016 by Jack Hidary. It operates as a separate group outside of Alphabet’s popular moonshots division, X, which has spun off some of its companies into its “other betting” segment.
Hidary will remain the CEO of Sandbox AQ.
The company, which has acquired a number of prominent investors and clients, is pursuing enterprise software that uses at least part quantum technology. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, the company has 55 employees.
Investors include former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Breyer Capital, Sales force Head of Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures and T. Rowe Price. Schmidt will take over as chairman of the board, the company said in a statement release.
Customers include Softbank Mobile, Vodafone and New York’s Mount Sinai Health System, Sandbox said.