In a scene straight from a Bond flick, or perhaps Austin Powers, Google is building a showboat/party boat, right in the middle of San Francisco harbor.
San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX discovered that Google’s mysterious floating barge will feature “luxury showrooms” and an entire deck dedicated to parties with invitation-only guests. It makes sense that Google’s experimental division, Google X, which is responsible for Google Glass, Google’s self-driving car, and other speculative projects, like delivering Internet access from floating balloons, is behind the vessel.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":851705,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,mobile,offbeat,","session":"C"}']
Above: Google Glass
Clearly, Google is going gadget, with Glass, the Nexus line of smartphones and tablets, and music streaming devices that just could be the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
As such, a posh — and super-cool — floating facility to showcase its wares right in the heart of the tech press universe, sounds like a great idea. Especially when you apparently have unlimited funds to create evil genius-style lairs.
AI Weekly
The must-read newsletter for AI and Big Data industry written by Khari Johnson, Kyle Wiggers, and Seth Colaner.
Included with VentureBeat Insider and VentureBeat VIP memberships.
The boat is currently moored off San Francisco’s Treasure Island — fittingly, perhaps — and the upper decks are constructed out of modular shipping containers that can theoretically be disassembled, transported, and re-assembled elsewhere.
Previous rumors said the barge was a floating data center, which could be moved anywhere Google needed additional processing power.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Learn More