<p><img src="https://static3.businessinsider.com/image/6040ba6a2dc90100183554f6-926/GettyImages-467363994.jpg" alt="Candy featuring the Google logo is seen in the company's offices on March 23, 2015 in Berlin, Germany" data-mce-source="Adam Berry/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Candy featuring the Google logo is seen in the company's offices on March 23, 2015 in Berlin, Germany" border="0"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>One of Google's most prominent portfolio companies considered launching a futuristic food divisionand one idea on the table was AI-designed food supplements.</p><p>Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind-ai-food-hampton-creek-eat-just-2021-2">spoke to multiple sources about how DeepMind</a>, the London-based AI company acquired by Google in 2014, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind-ai-food-hampton-creek-eat-just-2021-2">considered launching a food division with vegan food startup Hampton Creek</a>, but abandoned the plans after internal disputes over the value of the projectas well as a string of public controversies involving its proposed partner.</p><p>Google and its parent firm Alphabet have long been interested in "moonshot" futuristic ideas. Google hasn't made major inroads into the world of plant-based or lab-grown food but has invested in<a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-bid-for-cheeseburger-company-impossible-foods">and reportedly tried to buy</a>fake meat startup Impossible Foods.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind-ai-food-hampton-creek-eat-just-2021-2">Insider revealed</a> how a DeepMind cofounder and staffers visited Hampton Creek in California for a meeting. Hampton Creek CEO Josh Tetrick <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind-ai-food-hampton-creek-eat-just-2021-2">presented proposals for a "nutricube" branded as being "powered by DeepMind,"</a> a square vitamin supplement customers could add to meals to improve their nutritional content.</p><p>Insiders said the talks never resulted in any "formal corporate partnership" and the food division never happened. One source close to DeepMind described the talks as "very early-stage exploratory conversations."</p><p>The project had also been dampened by some internal disagreements. "It was a waste of time," one source familiar with the plans <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind-ai-food-hampton-creek-eat-just-2021-2">told Insider</a> adding that Hampton Creek "wasn't a tech company, it was a food factory."</p><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind-ai-food-hampton-creek-eat-just-2021-2">Read more about how a DeepMind cofounder pitched a food division internally in Insider's full dive into the project here</a>.</h2><p><em data-stringify-type="italic">Are you a current or former Googler with more to share' You can contact this reporter securely using the encrypted messaging app Signal (</em><em data-stringify-type="italic">+447801985586</em><em data-stringify-type="italic">) or email (</em><em data-stringify-type="italic"><a href="mailto:mcoulter@businessinsider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="mailto:mcoulter@businessinsider.com" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-analytics-module="body_link" data-analytics-post-depth="100" data-uri="baf961f3fd059f40212042f84bd1cd89">mcoulter@businessinsider.com</a></em><em data-stringify-type="italic">). Reach out using a non-work device.</em> </p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-food-supplements-ai-deepmind-technology-2021-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-travel-during-coronavirus-outbreak-planes-airports-virus-2020-3">Here's what it's like to travel during the coronavirus outbreak</a></p>
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