A Google Titan drone.

Google bought drone maker Titan Aerospace in 2014 and began testing drones that could eventually be used to bring Internet connections to remote places. But the company quietly scrapped those plans nearly a year ago, 9to5Google reported yesterday. More than 50 employees were moved to other Alphabet projects.

“The team from Titan was brought into X in early 2016,” Alphabet told 9to5Google. “We ended our exploration of high-altitude UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] for Internet access shortly after. By comparison, at this stage the economics and technical feasibility of Project Loon present a much more promising way to connect rural and remote parts of the world. Many people from the Titan team are now using their expertise as part of other high-flying projects at X, including Loon and Project Wing.”