Top executives from Google are reportedly weighing a pitch from its "smart city" spin-off Sidewalk Labs about taking over a section of a preexisting city and rebuilding it with a particular focus on technology, efficient infrastructure, and self-driving cars. According to The Wall Street Journal, Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff has been scrambling in recent months to put together a proposal to purchase a large swath of a city (potentially one that is struggling economically) to be rebuilt to house tens of thousands of residents. In essence, Sidewalk Labs —€” and by extension Google — would become the landlord to people residing within this refurbished, tech-rich mini-city.
Google as landlord?
Doctoroff, a former New York City deputy...
via The Verge
