Intel is committing another $50 million to technology projects fighting the novel coronavirus outbreak, aiming to help medical researchers as well as online educational programs.
Most of the money—$40 million—will go toward a response and readiness initiative in health care and an online learning initiative, the company said. Intel will fund A.I. and high-performance computing work that helps researchers improve diagnosis, treatment, and vaccine development for COVID-19. For education, funds will provide devices and online learning resources to students in need.
Another $10 million goes to an innovation fund that is backing some new and existing ideas to attack the pandemic, like a new ventilator design from Dyson. In another case, employees at Medical Informatics, a startup backed by Intel, developed hardware and software that quickly convert regular hospital beds into intensive care–ready beds. Additional funds will bring the virtual ICU technology, already deployed at Houston Methodist Hospital, to more hospitals.
“For us, as…the provider of the technology that powers the digital world, with that capability comes a responsibility,” Intel CEO Bob Swan told Fortune in an interview.
The funds are in addition to $10 million in local donations Intel made earlier in the crisis, including 1 million pieces of personal protective equipment donated from its supply.
Tech companies have been stepping up to help fight the pandemic, with Google donating $800 million, Apple offering 20 million face masks, and Amazon undertaking myriad efforts, including CEO Jeff Bezos donating $100 million to nonprofit Feeding America. The donations and programs provide a way for the industry to help fight the outbreak, though as the richest companies on the globe, some say they should be doing considerably more.
The crisis has hit Intel less deeply than some of its peers. The company’s massive chip-fabrication facilities have been deemed essential operations in many parts of the world and are allowed to continue operating. Intel’s stock price is up 3% over the past month, versus a 10% drop for Apple and Google and a 12% loss for IBM. Intel last month suspended all stock buybacks and said the economic slowdown accompanying the pandemic would likely have a material impact on its results.
CEO Swan said many workers, including himself, are working from home. “Lead by example with doing what you’re telling your employees to do,” Swan said. “So I’m working from home.”
With employees, partners, and customers spread across the world, that’s meant a lot of videoconferencing for the CEO. “Skype calls, Webex calls, Zoom calls, I’m using all of the technologies at our disposal,” he said. “We’ve provided the backbone so that we’re able to keep things as normal at a time when things are extremely abnormal.”
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