“We are now convinced that the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance has a real chance to save lives, at significant scale, and possibly much sooner than other approaches currently being developed,” Microsoft wrote.

Eventually, Microsoft hopes to make the bot available through other web, social and search channels. It will first recruit donors in the US, where the company says donating should be easy. It claims that 50 percent of the eligible donor population in the US lives within 15 minutes of one of the 500 centers operated by CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance member companies. Microsoft plans to expand its recruitment efforts to Europe, but it hasn’t said when that might happen.

Since the pandemic began, bots have been helping users check their symptoms and find accurate information. If donated plasma becomes a reliable way to treat COVID-19, we might see more bots of this nature, too.