Keen to compete with Bill Gates in absolutely everything, Google's now getting into philanthropy. It's setting up a new company with $1 billion in funding to tackle issues like poverty, disease and
global warming. But there's a twist. Google also stands to benefit from its efforts. Google.org, as the company is known, will be a for-profit enterprise, allowing it to fund startups, form
partnerships with venture capitalists and even lobby Congress. As one of its projects, the organization is setting out to develop an ultra-fuel-efficient, plug-in hybrid car engine that runs on
gasoline, electricity and ethanol. It has already purchased a small fleet of cars with plans to convert the engines so the gas mileage can exceed 100 miles per gallon. World domination indeed. Well,
sort of. Google.org comes less than 10 years after the company's founding, and its funding pales in comparison next to the tens of billions that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has at its
disposal, especially with that extra $3 billion a year coming from Warren Buffett. Dr. Larry Brilliant, the man in charge of Google's new enterprise, says the new company "can start companies, build
industries, pay consultants, lobby, give money to individuals and make a profit." It can and will also pay taxes. But, he stresses, it's not about the money. "We're not doing it for the profit. And if
we didn't get our capital back, so what? The emphasis is on social returns, not economic returns."
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