I wouldn’t totally put it past Trump to announce it therefore forcing Google’s hand. But it also seems reasonable that someone in the Admin has a conversation w

I wouldn’t totally put it past Trump to announce it therefore forcing Google’s hand. But it also seems reasonable that someone in the Admin has a conversation with someone high up at Google and most of Google wasn’t aware of it immediately. It clearly wasn’t straight up invented out of thin air, because the 1,700 number correlates. Someone gave him that number after talking with Google. Either way... IMO, booting it into Google’s court (whether they truly volunteered or not, maybe we’ll never know) is a way more effective way to get the site done quickly than trying to get it done inside the government. I guess we’ll see what they stand up in the next week. Personally I really like the idea of “Corporate America” pulling out all the stops in every way that they can to provide COVID support. Whether it’s credit cards waiving payments and interest, tech companies donating software/services, retail stores volunteering space and workers to support outreach and testing efforts. I’d love to see a massive mobilization of the commercial sector truly bringing everything they have to bear on this challenge.