Healthcare
Biden admin announces new AI regulations for intelligence agencies, such as ‘to demonstrate that AI does not produce racially biased diagnoses’
This week Vice President Kamala Harris said a new series of regulations, which include mandatory risk reporting and transparency rules informing people when agencies are using AI, would “promote the safe, secure and responsible use of AI.” Harris is referring to the Biden administration announcing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is rolling out new artificial intelligence (AI) regulations for federal agencies, building off the president’s executive order last year that requires AI developers to share certain information with the government.
“When government agencies use AI tools, we will now require them to verify that those tools do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people,” Harris said. “I’ll give you an example. If the Veterans Administration wants to use AI in VA hospitals to help doctors diagnose patients, they would first have to demonstrate that AI does not produce racially biased diagnoses.” Federal agencies will also be required to appoint a chief AI officer to oversee technology used in their departments “to make sure that AI is used responsibly.”
Fox News reports:
Harris said the new regulations were shaped by leaders in the public and private sectors, including computer scientists and civil rights leaders. A White House fact sheet says the new policy will “advance equity and civil rights and stand up for consumers and workers.”
OMB Director Shalanda Young said the new AI policy will require agencies to “independently evaluate” their uses of AI and “monitor them for mistakes and failures and guard against the risk of discrimination.”
“AI presents not only risks but also a tremendous opportunity to improve public services and make progress of societal challenges like addressing climate change, improving public health and advancing equitable economic opportunity when used and overseen responsibly,” Young said on the press call.
Each federal agency could use different AI systems and will need to have an independent auditor assess its risks, a senior White House official said on the call.
China
House Report Uncovers DOJ Secretly Investigated Nonprofit Accused of Channeling Taxpayer Funds to Wuhan Lab
A bombshell House committee report released Monday, after a two year investigation, revealed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) secretly initiated a grand jury investigation into EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S. nonprofit accused of channeling taxpayer funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the lab suspected of causing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report, prepared by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, highlights concerns about EcoHealth’s grants, which allegedly funded gain-of-function research at the Chinese lab. Such research, aimed at enhancing viruses to study their potential risks, has been linked to theories suggesting the virus may have escaped from the lab. Efforts to access related records were reportedly obstructed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Internal emails and documents included in the report reveal that the grand jury issued subpoenas for genetic sequences and correspondence between EcoHealth Alliance’s president, Dr. Peter Daszak, and Dr. Shi Zhengli, a WIV scientist known as the “bat lady” for her work on coronaviruses. One email from EcoHealth’s legal counsel advised omitting references to the DOJ investigation when addressing congressional document requests, underscoring the probe’s secrecy.
The report also criticizes EcoHealth Alliance’s failure to comply with grant requirements. NIH funding facilitated a $4 million project on bat coronaviruses, $1.4 million of which was funneled to WIV. NIH deputy director Dr. Lawrence Tabak admitted the grant supported gain-of-function research, leading to highly infectious virus modifications.
The committee’s findings claim these experiments violated biosafety protocols, and Daszak failed to adequately oversee the research. Calls to bar Daszak and EcoHealth from future funding were reinforced by bipartisan agreement within the subcommittee.
The New York Post writes that the report also evaluated U.S. pandemic response measures, describing prolonged lockdowns as harmful to the economy and public health, especially for younger Americans. Mask mandates and social distancing policies were criticized as “arbitrary” and unsupported by conclusive scientific evidence. Public health officials’ inconsistent messaging, particularly from Dr. Anthony Fauci, contributed to public mistrust, according to the subcommittee.
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