Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Amazon To Test Out Wearable Device That Alerts Workers When They're Too Close To Each Other
Reuters: Amazon To Use AI Tech In Its Warehouses To Enforce Social Distancing
Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday launched an artificial intelligence-based tracking system to enforce social distancing at its offices and warehouses to help reduce any risk of contracting the new coronavirus among its workers. The unveiling comes as the world’s largest online retailer faces intensifying scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and unions over whether it is doing enough to protect staff from the pandemic. (Dastin and Vengattil, 6/16)
In other technology news —
Stat: Teaming Tech And Pharma, Effort Seeks To Speed Covid-19 Clinical Trials
When Sam Altman, the CEO of artificial intelligence firm OpenAI and a well-known tech investor, saw the pandemic coming, he started investing in biotech companies that could combat it, and fast. Eventually, he had funded roughly 20 different efforts, a mix of investments and philanthropy... But as he talked to these companies, the tech veteran, who ran the legendary accelerator YCombinator until 2019, was in for a shock. One executive told him a trial would cost about “two.” Two million dollars, Altman asked? That didn’t sound bad. No, the exec said. He meant $200 million. (Herper, 6/16)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: New Orleans Tech Chief Says City Continues To Recover After Cyberattack, Though Coronavirus Has Brought New Challenges
Six months after a cyberattack shut down New Orleans' government and exposed flaws in its computer systems, the city has mostly recovered even as the coronavirus pandemic delivers a new set of challenges, city officials said Tuesday. City Hall officials have spent $4.2 million thus far to recover from a December ransomware attack, spending money on hundreds of new computers as well as upgraded software. All told, the city is about 80% recovered, according to Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Kim LaGrue, the city’s Chief Information Technology & Innovation Officer. (Williams, 6/16)
