Google owns the Android mobile operating system after acquiring Android Inc. in 2005.
Android Inc. was founded in 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White. Google acquired the company in 2005, bringing Rubin and his team into Google. The project eventually became an open-source mobile operating system built around the Linux kernel.
The first commercial Android phone was the HTC Dream, also known as the T-Mobile G1, released in 2008. Android’s licensing model allowed many manufacturers to use the operating system, helping it spread across phones, tablets, televisions, cars, and other devices.
Google’s Android business is part of the broader Google and Alphabet ecosystem, which includes search, advertising, cloud services, and hardware. Android is often confused with Google’s hardware brands, such as Pixel; Android is the software platform, while Pixel is a line of Google-designed devices. Alphabet’s scale has made it one of the world’s largest public companies by market value.