Tech Giants Ask Federal Government to Create National Research Cloud

Google, IBM and Microsoft have joined with top research universities to prod the federal government to create a nationwide shared cloud-computing platform, saying it is urgently needed to keep the U.S. from falling behind foreign competitors. A national research cloud would open the doors of Big Tech companies’ data to academic outsiders. It could mean that companies such as Google would hand over the keys to data collected during the coronavirus crisis, such as details on users’ movements during government-imposed social distancing.