Google Beam
A video communication platform that renders a 3D version of the person you talk to.
- 1Small group hacksA very small, obsessed group
- 2Side project growsWeekends, breaks, hallway time
- 3Leaders catch promising oneSpot the idea worth backing
- 4Funnel it forwardBeam, NotebookLM, Flow, AI Studio
From Josh Woodward on Google Labs
What was said about Google Beam
Beam began as a side project of a small, obsessed group. Josh Woodward names Google Beam alongside NotebookLM, Flow and AI Studio as products that each started with a very small, obsessed group over the last four or five years, not in a scheduled ideation session.
His advice is to leave room for side projects hacked on weekends, over breaks or in the hallway, then catch the promising one and funnel it forward. "You can't microwave good ideas."
Beam is one of the few hardware bets inside an AI-only Labs. Woodward describes Beam as a "magic mirror" that renders a 3D version of the person you are talking to, like a hologram.
Google Labs explored many areas four or five years ago, then went all in on AI. It now works only on AI, and that includes some hardware efforts such as Beam.
Why every company now needs to think and operate like a lab team | Josh Woodward (VP Google Labs)
Woodward calls it a magic mirror, like a hologram. It started as a small obsessed group's project and is one of the hardware efforts in Labs.
Beam began as a side project of a small, obsessed group. Josh Woodward names Google Beam alongside NotebookLM, Flow and AI Studio as products that each started with a very small, obsessed group over the last four or five years, not in a scheduled ideation session.
His advice is to leave room for side projects hacked on weekends, over breaks or in the hallway, then catch the promising one and funnel it forward. "You can't microwave good ideas."
Beam is one of the few hardware bets inside an AI-only Labs. Woodward describes Beam as a "magic mirror" that renders a 3D version of the person you are talking to, like a hologram.
Google Labs explored many areas four or five years ago, then went all in on AI. It now works only on AI, and that includes some hardware efforts such as Beam.
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