POLICY
POLICY
POLICY
Major tech firms meet with White House to discuss coronavirus response
Major tech companies attended a meeting with White House officials Wednesday to discuss ways they can provide a coordinated response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The meeting was convened by the Office of Science and Technology Policy and included public health officials along with representatives of Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., Twitter Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.
Michael Kratsios, the White House’s chief technology officer, led the meeting. Representatives of the Consumer Technology Industry Council, Information Technology Industry Council and the Software and Information Industry Association also attended.
White House officials urged those in attendance, the majority via teleconference, to coordinate efforts to root out misinformation being spread online about the virus, officially known as COVID-19. The State Department has previously claimed that Russian-linked accounts on social media were deliberately spreading false information on the virus, according to The Street.
The companies were also asked to ways they can used their artificial intelligence capabilities to assist the government in tracking the spread of the virus as well for data analysis for medical insights into the disease.
“The White House’s top priority is ensuring the safety and health of the American people amid the COVID-19 outbreak,” Kratsios said in a media release. “Cutting edge technology companies and major online platforms will play a critical role in this all-hands-on-deck effort. Today’s meeting outlined an initial path forward and we intend to continue this important conversation.”
The meeting comes as more tech companies ask that their employees to work from home to reduce their risk of catching the virus. Google LLC ordered all of its North American workers to stay at home earlier in the day until April 10, subsequently extending that to the U.K., Europe, the Middle East and Africa starting Thursday.
Amazon.com Inc. also told workers in New York and New Jersey to work from home on Tuesday. Major tech companies in the Seattle area, including Amazon, Microsoft and Salesforce Inc., ordered staff to work from home March 5.
Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid/Wikimedia Commons
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