Sergey Brin: Google not done taking big risks

SAN FRANCISCO — In a letter to shareholders, Google co-founder Sergey Brin made an impassioned case for his company's "moonshots" — those futuristic ventures such as driverless cars that are far afield from the company's mission of organizing the world's information.

Brin issued the letter as an addition to the company's proxy statement ahead of Google's shareholder meeting at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters on Wednesday.

In it, Brin hailed the potential of increasing computing power to "create the technology that allows people to lead healthier, happier lives."

While Internet search was yesterday's moonshot, Brin says he envisions a bright future filled with advancements such as Google's computerized glucose-sensing contact lenses for people with diabetes.

Brin runs Google X, the company's experimental laboratory responsible for driverless cars, Google Glass and another new products.

Brin's message, that Google would continue to tap its mountains of cash and some of the world's smartest engineers to make big, risky bets "whose outcomes are far from certain," echoes the "owner's manual" for shareholders that was included in the initial public offering paperwork Google filed in April 2004. In it, Brin and Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page warned shareholders that Google intended to be an unconventional company that sacrificed short-term earnings growth and flout Wall Street demands to pursue experimental ventures.

Page has continued to preach that same line, saying in a previous note to shareholders that Google Glass, driverless cars and other projects are fueled by his belief that "incrementalism leads to irrelevance over time, especially in technology, because change tends to be revolutionary, not evolutionary."

"The increasing power of computation extends well beyond the Internet," Brin wrote on Wednesday. "One example close to my heart is our self-driving car project. The goal is to make cars capable of driving themselves entirely without human intervention. We hope to make roadways far safer and transportation far more affordable and accessible to those who can't drive."