Google dives into business of improving urban life

New York

GOOGLE's ambitions and investments have increasingly broadened beyond its digital origins in Internet search into the arena of physical objects: self-driving cars, Internet-connected eyeglasses, smart thermostats and a biotech venture to develop life-extending treatments. Now Google is getting into the ultimate manifestation of the messy real world: cities.

The Silicon Valley giant is starting and funding an independent company dedicated to coming up with new technologies to improve urban life.