Google, Microsoft launch charity efforts

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Google and Microsoft each unveiled new charitable initiatives Tuesday, in separate efforts which channel millions of dollars to innovators tackling social ills.

Google launched its Global Impact Awards program with a first round of funding allocating a total of US$23 million (S$28 million) to seven organisations "changing the world."

"Technology has dramatically improved our lives, from the speed at which we get things done to how we connect with others," Google director of giving Jacquelline Fuller said in a blog post announcing the awards.

"Yet innovations in medicine, business and communications have far outpaced tech-enabled advances in the nonprofit sector." Meanwhile, Microsoft held a Social Innovation Summit at which it announced the winners of US$3 million in "Imagine Cup" grants to students with promising projects for the global good.