MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – January 13, 2014

Tech giant Google announced its $3.2 billion purchase of Nest Labs, the wildly successful home automation company behind the Nest Learning Thermostat (read our review here) and the Nest Protect (Amazon.com link) smoke and carbon monoxide detector.

Nest Labs, led by former Apple designer Tony Fadell, will continue to operate under its current leadership and retain its distinct brand identity.  With the strength of Google behind it, Nest will stay at the forefront of the multi-billion dollar “connected home” industry.

Google will help us fully realize our vision of the conscious home and allow us to change the world faster than we ever could if we continued to go it alone.” – Tony Fadell

Google was already the subject of rumors that it was developing its own high-tech thermostat, and the search juggernaut was an early investor in Nest Labs, contributing to venture capital fundraising efforts in 2011 and 2012.

Privacy advocates were quick to express concern over the acquisition, pointing out that data once limited to Nest will now be available to Google, a company whose fortune was built on data collection. Google and Nest Labs were quick to respond to these concerns, posting an FAQ that states the Nest’s privacy policy limits the use of customer information to “providing and improving Nest’s products and services” and that this “will not change”.  Nest warranties and support for iOS apps will also continue.

Further Reading

• Google Buying Nest Labs for $3.2 Billion (CNNMoney article)
• Who Gets Rich From Google Buying Nest? (TechCrunch article)
• Google to Acquire Nest (Google press release)
• Nest, Google, and You (Nest founder’s responses to common questions)