Actually, I probably titled this incorrectly. The article didn't say that Google literally had plans, although it sort of implied it. What it said was that someone at Google (they called him a "visionary" -- presumably some sort of research and development person) said it was a foregone conclusion that eventually this is what Google would end up doing or would have to do. Something like that. Don't remember the exact words and don't want to reread the article. Anyway, it could have been just his personal opinion. There aren't necessarily any plans on the table just yet, although it's also possible that this process is already further along than just the planning stage. With this government and quasi-government "public-private sector partnership" stuff, by the time they let you know that they're thinking about developing something, often as not they've already got at least a prototype in production. Or at least, that's what I've heard more than a few apparently credible pundit-types say.