Lockheed Invests in DarwinAI to Advance COVID-19 Diagnosis Initiative

Lockheed Martin has invested $750K in Canada-based artificial intelligence company DarwinAI to help the latter operationalize a project that seeks to accelerate diagnosis of COVID-19 through chest X-ray scans. 

Lockheed made the investment in DarwinAI through its Canadian arm and as part of the Industrial Technological Benefits policy, the companies said in a joint release published Tuesday. 

Waterloo, Ontario-based DarwinAI launched the COVID-Net initiative in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The project is an open source neural network designed to help health care professionals detect the virus through chest radiography. 

DarwinAI expects the project to reach certain milestones, including the development of a front-end user interface and integration with the medical imaging system PACS. The company anticipates the UI system’s initial iteration to be available for use in hospitals by the end of 2020. 

Lockheed’s investment is a result of obligations made through the ITB policy in connection to Canada’s procurement of 17 units of the CC-130J Super Hercules aircraft.