AI’s whirlwind week

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Jan 14, 2025 View in browser   By Ruth Reader, Daniel Payne and Carmen Paun POLICY PUZZLE Micky Tripathi is ending his tenure as HHS’ top technology official and interim AI officer with a flurry of AI actions. | Pixel Me Studio It’s been a whirlwind week for artificial intelligence policy. Micky Tripathi is leaving his post as HHS’ top technology official and interim AI officer with a flurry of activity. On Friday, he released a long-awaited AI strategy. On Monday, HHS named a new chief AI officer along with two other top tech hires, hoping Trump’s team sees AI through the same nonpartisan lens Tripathi says he does. The HHS chief technology officer and the chief AI officer were both positions created under the first Trump administration, Tripathi said. The new officials are Alicia Rouault, chief technology officer; Dr. Meghan Dierks, chief AI officer; and Kristen Honey, chief data officer. Honey was a White House adviser during Trump’s first term. “We’re hoping that the next administration sees [this] isn’t political,” Tripathi said. “They’ll add their own perspective on it and be able to carry it forward.” Ruth chatted with Erin about the new strategy and what comes next for health care AI under President-elect Donald Trump. What’s your biggest takeaway from the AI strategy HHS released last week? The Biden administration has repeatedly shown it wants to ensure that industry has room to innovate. The department has been sensitive to the reality that restrictive rules can gum up the development of new technology. As a result, it issued more guidance than rules and advised industry to stay in touch with the department and its various agencies as they develop health care AI. This strategy puts an emphasis on creating public-private partnerships, so government officials can be in conversation with industry as they sort through the problems this technology raises and its best uses. HHS says the plan isn’t controversial. Is it likely to survive the Trump administration? I think it has a good chance. The strategic document describes the department’s investments in AI innovation and research and calls for partnering with industry to craft future regulations and standards. That’s in line with what the Trump administration has done in the past. There’s a world in which HHS under Trump goes further to monitor artificial intelligence after it’s been put on the market. What will you be watching on this storyline in the coming months? I’m watching to see who the new assistant secretary for technology policy will be. Another big question is what approach the new Trump administration will take on AI. A lot has changed in the last four years. Large language models like ChatGPT are widely available, and there are new players in Trump’s orbit, like billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who think AI should be closely regulated. We don’t yet know how these factors will influence his administration’s broad-stroke approach to AI governance. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Saratoga Springs, N.Y. | Richard Schumaker This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Could a TikTok ban help your blood pressure? Time spent watching short videos before sleep was associated with hypertension in young and middle-aged people, according to a new study. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. WASHINGTON WATCH Despite an investigation by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a new report suggests federal action on private equity investment in health care this year is unlikely. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Congress might further scrutinize private equity ownership of health providers this year — but take little action, according to a new report by Capstone, a global policy consulting firm. The firm suggested private equity investments might garner negative headlines and accusations that PE firms put more interest in profits than patient care, but the risk of significant policy change is relatively low. How so? A Republican-controlled Congress figures to be skeptical of stringent requirements on the private sector, and recent scrutiny hasn’t produced new legislative plans for Congress to address ownership concerns. But lawmakers say they are, indeed, concerned. The Capstone analysis cites an investigation released last week by Senate Budget Committee members Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). But the report’s scope was fairly narrow, and there’s no federal legislation with a clear path to passage addressing the issue. State governments are more likely to change policy that affects private equity’s role in health care, the group said. The report comes after the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee scrutinized Steward Health Care’s for-profit ownership, which received bipartisan condemnation for closing hospitals. Even before the closures, Steward facilities were accused of providing substandard care. Despite research suggesting private equity ownership can hurt care quality or pressure providers to see more patients, some doctors say it allows them to remain independent at a time when consolidation is a serious concern. WORLD VIEW Researchers in Rwanda plan to study the human body's response to the Marburg virus. | AFP via Getty Images Rwandan authorities and an international epidemic preparedness organization are launching a study into the human body’s response to the Marburg virus. During an outbreak in Rwanda late last year, 66 people were infected with the Ebola-like virus. Fifteen of them — mostly health care workers who came into contact with sick patients — died. Why it matters: The Marburg virus causes severe hemorrhagic fever that often leads to death. While no treatment or vaccine is licensed for it, several experimental therapies and one vaccine were tested during Rwanda’s outbreak. The small African country has received praise for how well it responded to the outbreak and the Rwandan authorities’ ability to keep virus deaths much lower than in previous Marburg outbreaks elsewhere. The country started testing an experimental vaccine developed by the Washington-based Sabin Vaccine Institute slightly more than a week after declaring the outbreak in late September — setting new standards for how developing nations can tackle deadly pathogens. What’s next: Rwandans who recovered from the virus and their close contacts will be invited to participate in the two-year study into the body’s response to the virus. Rwanda Biomedical Centre will lead the study and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, an international partnership, will fund it. Up to 300 people could participate, CEPI said Tuesday. Researchers will analyze participants’ blood samples to identify their immune response to the virus, which will help them develop Marburg vaccines and treatments. CEPI hopes the study findings could also improve clinical care for the deadly disease the virus causes. “While there is still more to do to understand Marburg and be ready for future outbreaks, we remain indebted to the survivors participating in this research through helping to protect others from this unsettling virus,” CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett said in a statement.   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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