This week’s stories are about tech, AI and sustainability, coming from the USA

U.S. Health Department releases plan to broaden use of AI

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a strategy to accelerate its adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).

I read this story at AP News and HHS described the plan as an initial roadmap aimed at boosting efficiency and coordinating AI efforts across its agencies. The 20-page document also outlines longer-term ambitions, including using AI to analyze patient data and speed drug development.

The plan has drawn mixed reactions from experts, who say modernizing government systems offers major benefits but also carries risks, particularly at an agency that handles vast amounts of sensitive health data.

The strategy encourages staff to test and adopt AI tools widely. Earlier this year, HHS made ChatGPT available to all employees. The plan identifies five pillars: establishing risk-management governance, building department-wide AI resources, training employees, funding standards for AI in research and development and expanding AI use in public health and patient care, the story noted.

The document reveals that HHS divisions are already exploring AI tools that can securely read and interpret medical records to deliver customized health guidance. But some critics argue that expanding AI analysis of health data could expose Americans’ personal information, particularly if outside technology companies are involved.

AI  researcher Oren Etzioni said the department’s goals are ambitious but stressed that protecting health data must remain paramount.

Let me add that HHS reported 271 active or planned AI projects in fiscal year 2024 and expects that number to grow by nearly 70% in 2025.

Image: ChatGPT

Meta signs new AI licensing deals with major news publishers

Meta said it has signed a series of commercial agreements allowing its AI systems to use news content from outlets including USA Today, People Inc., CNN, Fox News, The Daily Caller, the Washington Examiner and France’s Le Monde.

I read this story at Axios and the move marks a shift for Meta, which scaled back payments to news organizations in recent years but is now again compensating publishers as it builds AI chat tools that rely on up-to-date, verified reporting.

Under the multiyear deals — similar to an earlier agreement with Reuters — Meta will be able to pull real-time information from partner publications to answer user questions about current events via its Meta AI chatbot, according to the story.

Meta AI is embedded across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. When users ask for information tied to breaking or developing news, the chatbot will display the source of the material it cites and link directly to articles on the publishers’ websites. (By the way I have a story here about Facebook, which is the fine against Facebook by Turkish authorities)

The partnerships also highlight Meta’s renewed engagement with conservative media outlets such as Fox News, The Daily Caller and the Washington Examiner — a notable development given the company’s fraught history with claims of bias. Let me add that Facebook was accused in 2016 of suppressing conservative stories in its trending topics feature, an allegation it denied but which fueled years of Republican criticism. When Meta launched its News Tab in 2019, it included right-leaning outlets such as Breitbart.

Although users can still post and share news on Meta platforms, the company has moved away from positioning Facebook as a news hub, instead prioritizing viral video formats. Meta shut down its News Tab in the U.S. in 2024 and ended its high-profile payments program for publishers in 2022, the story noted.

Meta signs new AI licensing deals with major news publishers

Green economy surpasses $5 trillion in annual value

The global green economy exceeded $5 trillion in annual value in 2024 and is on pace to reach more than $7 trillion a year by 2030, according to a report released the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the World Economic Forum.

The report defines the green economy as commercial solutions designed specifically to address environmental challenges, including efforts focused on mitigation, adaptation and resilience. I saw this story at ESGdive and despite geopolitical tensions, energy security concerns and short-term economic pressures, the authors said investment in sustainable technologies continues to rise,

Since 2015, the green economy has been the second-fastest-growing sector worldwide, trailing only technology, per the story. The report estimates that 55% of the emissions reductions needed by 2050 can be achieved through competitive, cost-effective methods, with another roughly 20% addressable at a modest cost disadvantage.

The research assessed the industry across seven resilience and adaptation areas — food, infrastructure, health, business and community, water, energy and biodiversity — and handled mitigation efforts in energy systems, heavy industry, transportation, agriculture, waste and carbon management, and enabling financial solutions.

The report highlights solar, wind, nuclear and hydropower as cost-competitive sources able to tackle roughly 35% of the emissions cuts required by midcentury to limit global warming to 1.5°C

At the same time, about 20% of the emissions reductions needed by 2050 currently rely on high-cost approaches, including carbon capture and storage, biochar, direct air capture, hydrogen and low-carbon fuels for aviation, shipping and heavy trucking.

The new analysis builds on a 2024 BCG–WEF report that highlighted the costs of delayed climate action, which found that climate-related disasters caused more than $3.6 trillion in damages since 2000.

Green economy surpasses $5 trillion in annual value