Tās speech was of course full of misinformationā¦and this Google website was not something that was developed (or even ready) to cover the Coronavirus situation.
#CartBeforeTheHorse #LetMeShineFactsLater
https://twitter.com/nxthompson/status/1238626322844434433?s=20
A source at Google tells WIRED that company leadership was surprised that Trump announced anything about the initiative at the press conference. What he did say was also almost entirely wrong. There will be a coronavirus testing site, not from Google but from Alphabet sister company Verily. āWe are developing a tool to help triage individuals for Covid-19 testing,ā Google tweeted in a statement. āVerily is in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time.ā
Even that, though, was not the original plan. The Verge reported Friday afternoon that Verily had intended the site for health care workers only. After Trump unexpectedly publicized the effort, Verily decided it will let anyone visit it, but can still only provide people with testing site information in the San Francisco area.
Google did not respond to requests for comment. A Verily spokesperson characterized the intention of the site differently from the Verge report. "We were initially planning to focus on highest risk populations, which includes healthcare workersābut this was not solely intended for them," the company said. āWe are collaborating with organizations like Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp as part of this initiative, and local organizations to determine what will work best. At Verily, we are focused on developing a tool to help triage individuals for testing.ā
Itās unclear whether senior Google or Alphabet leadership was aware of Trumpās plans, but CEO Sundar Pichai apparently made no reference to it in a company-wide memo about its coronavirus efforts Thursday, which was first reported by CNBC. In the memo, Pichai told employees that āa planning effort is underwayā for Verily to āaid in the COVID-19 testing effort in the US.ā
The White House declined to comment on the record, but did not dispute that Google was unaware that Trump would announce the site Friday.