Google pledges $20M for cyber clinic expansion

Google has committed to provide $20 million to bolster its Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics in an effort to address the ongoing cyber workforce shortage amid increasingly prevalent cyber threats, reports The Associated Press. Such a pledge comes a month after the introduction of the Google Cybersecurity Certificate program that sought to better prepare aspiring information security and cyber defense workers. "Just as technology can create new threats, it can also help us fight them. Security was critical to the work I did early in my Google career, including when we built our Chrome browser. Today, it's core to everything we do, and the current inflection point in AI is helping take our efforts to the next level," said Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Google has received bipartisan support for its expansion of cybersecurity clinics. "We need to incentivize students to pursue careers in fields like cybersecurity to reverse that trend. We must all embrace the idea of becoming lifelong learners," said Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif.