Ford is teaming up with GE Health to produce ventilators as the United States faces a shortage of these critical machines.
The automaker revealed that it will be able to produce 50,000 ventilators in the next 100 days. The ventilators' design has been simplified by the private medical company Airon for easy set-up and quick usage in emergency settings.
Jim Baumbick, vice president of enterprise product line management at Ford Motor Company, told Cheddar Wednesday that ford brings its manufacturing acumen to the table in this partnership.
Airon Model A-E Ventilator (Image courtesy of Ford)
"Many of these medical supply companies that make these units operate at much lower volumes … 3,000 to 5,000 a year," Baumbick said. "We know how to do high-volume manufacturing at scale, at quality, and they know how to do medical devices."
Ford will begin using its manufacturing plant in Michigan on April 20 to produce the ventilators. But the automaker is already hard at work producing 3D-printed disposable respirators and has shipped out half a million face shields for medical professionals on the front lines.
Baumbick says Ford is working with 3M to scale up this production.
"In just a matter of days, we've been able to boost production from 30 to 40 percent to get more of this equipment to the people that need it the most," he said.
The assembly lines putting together the personal protective equipment (PPE) are filled with volunteers from the United Auto Workers union.
"We have had a huge amount of volunteers that have come forward," Baumbick said. "Our UAW partners, which are outstanding, are going to actually support us."
While the workers wear a lot of the PPE they're helping to produce, Ford is looking at ways to employ technology to monitor the health and safety of employees as the companies produce at a rapid clip.
"We wanted to move quickly. Time is really the enemy here and the need is so great," the Ford executive added. "We just want to make sure we're doing everything possible to help."
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
