Intel Corp. today committed an additional $50 million toward coronavirus response efforts and detailed some of the initiatives it’s supporting, including a project to develop a new mass-producible ventilator.

The commitment comes on top of a $10 million donation the chipmaker announced earlier. Intel is dividing the new capital among three programs each aimed at helping in a different way. 

First, Intel is committing up to $10 million to support employees and external organizations that are working on technology projects to fight COVID-19. In the U.K., the chipmaker will help provide processors for Dyson Ltd.’s CoVent ventilators as the vacuum maker works to ramp up mass production. Intel is also supporting government efforts in India to improve patient diagnosis and says that its technology is being used by Houston-based healthcare startup Medical Informatics Corp. to increase the utility of hospital beds.

Intel’s second coronavirus relief program is the Intel COVID-19 Response and Readiness initiative. The chipmaker will provide funding to healthcare and life sciences manufacturers in order to “increase the availability of technology and solutions used by hospitals to diagnose and treat COVID-19.” It will also work to foster better collaboration among healthcare companies with the goal of enabling the sector to respond to the pandemic more effectively.

Lastly, Intel is launching the Intel Online Learning Initiative, which will provide capital to nonprofits and businesses that are helping schools cope with the shift to online learning. One of the program’s main priorities will be donating personal computers to students who need them.

“We hope that by sharing our expertise, resources and technology, we can help to accelerate work that saves lives and expands access to critical services around the world during this challenging time,” Intel Chief Executive Officer Bob Swan said in a statement

The entire tech industry has joined the global fight against the coronavirus. Amazon.com Inc. is delivering essential household items to people forced to stay at home, while Google LLC and Facebook Inc. are harnessing their vast troves of location data to help authorities track how the pandemic spreads. Tech giants are also aiding the research community’s efforts to develop treatments by giving scientists access to technical resources such as cloud computing capacity and artificial intelligence tools. 

Photo: Intel