Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) has sold part of its fibre internet business called “GFiber” as the company increasingly focuses on artificial intelligence (A.I.).
Alphabet said that it is combining GFiber with Astound Broadband and forming an independent fibre provider. Alphabet will remain a minority shareholder in the new venture.
The new company will be majority owned by investment firm Stonepeak and led by the existing GFiber executive team, said the companies in a news release.
Financial details of the deal have not been made public, but the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
Google Fiber launched in 2010 and was an early effort by Alphabet to build ultra-fast fibre-optic broadband networks in the U.S.
Alphabet had proposed building gigabit fibre connections to homes that would have been far faster than typical U.S. internet speeds. But the initiative never took off as hoped.
Some planned expansions were canceled in recent years and Alphabet focused on select markets rather than a costly nationwide rollout of fibre internet.
GFiber had been part of Alphabet’s “Other Bets” segment, which also includes non-core assets such as the Waymo robotaxi division and drug discovery business Isomorphic Labs.
In 2025, the Other Bets segment generated $1.54 billion U.S. in revenue, or less than 0.5% of Alphabet’s total sales, and recorded an operating loss of $16.8 billion U.S.
GOOGL stock has gained 85% in the last 12 months to trade at $308.70 U.S. a share.
Tech Insider
