Niantic Labs is splitting away from Google and becoming independent

Two days after announcing a sweeping reorganization, Google has detailed its first departure. Niantic Labs, an augmented reality unit of Google, will be spun off into an independent company. The split, which is unusual for Google, means that Niantic Labs won’t be part of Alphabet, the new holding company that is expected to be formed later this year to include Google and other parts of the company. The move was announced by Niantic Labs in a Google+ post on Wednesday, and confirmed by Winnie King, a spokeswoman for Google. She said the split would allow Niantic to accelerate its growth, “which will help them align more closely with investors and partners in the entertainment space,” but didn’t provide any more details. Niantic said it will allow the company to work with new partners while continuing to collaborate with Google. Google’s reorganization, announced Monday, restructures the company’s businesses under a holding company called Alphabet.