There were rumors earlier this year that Alphabet had closed the books on Mineral, its agricultural technology robotics spinout. Larger financial difficulties at Google's parent company were the source of the news. Mineral stopped operations and switched to technology licensing, citing a crowded industry and profit issues.
In addition to announcing that farming behemoth John Deere has purchased one of the startup's technology suites to support its See & Spray crop spraying solution, Mineral CEO Elliott Grant republished the leaked document this month.
Grant stated in a post that "the challenge of solving sustainable agriculture remains ahead of us." "But it's not a sprint; it's a relay race."