Turn “bad ideas” into world-changing innovations: Lessons from Alphabet’s innovation lab

How does Alphabet’s innovation lab — X, the moonshot factory — continually produce groundbreaking ideas like their autonomous vehicle project Waymo and the ‘transformer’ model that powers LLMs?

It all begins with “bad ideas,” explains Astro Teller , X’s Captain of Moonshots.

Last week, Astro joined Pioneers of AI host Rana el Kaliouby, Ph.D. at the annual Masters of Scale Summit to share how X crafts and advances world-changing concepts through unconventional brainstorming techniques.

Astro shares that every moonshot idea at X hinges on three essential components:

1. A huge problem in the world. “If you can't name [the problem], it’s definitely not a moonshot.”
2. A bold, science-fiction-level solution. It doesn’t matter how far-fetched it sounds — it just needs to offer hope for solving the problem.
3. Breakthrough technology. The technology should offer a real chance of making the solution possible.

Astro further explains that asking people for their "brilliant ideas" often stifles creativity, as it leads them to overthink. But asking for the worst ideas, that unlocks possibilities. “Their shoulders go down. Anyone can do that,” he said.

In this week’s episode of Pioneers of AI, Astro goes into the moonshot brainstorm process in real time, responding to Rana’s prompt: “How can we build bridges across lines of division?”

He also discusses the vital role of small experiments in testing ideas — like the early Waymo trials that revealed the need for full autonomy, so passengers could relax in the backseat while the car was in motion.

To learn more from Astro and Rana, watch their full conversation from Summit:

Or, listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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