Feb 19, 2021 - Economy

IBM considers sale of Watson Health

Dan Primack

Picture of IBM CEO Arvind Krishna — IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. Photo: Brian Ach/Getty Images for Wired

IBM (NYSE: IBM) is considering a sale process for its Watson Health business, with both private equity and SPACs viewed as options, per multiple media reports.

Why it matters: This reflects how CEO Arvind Krishna is willing to drop weighty baggage as he aims IBM at the cloud, where rivals like Amazon and Microsoft are miles above.

Watson Health generates around $1 billion in annual revenue but isn't profitable.

The bottom line: "Watson was one of IBM’s highest-profile initiatives in recent years and a big bet on the growing healthcare sector, though results disappointed in part because physicians were hesitant to adopt artificial intelligence," The Wall Street Journal writes.

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IBM considers sale of Watson Health

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