Sens. Rounds, Heinrich bill would enlist AI for pandemic response

Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), leaders on artificial intelligence policy issues in the Senate, have reintroduced a bill that would “create a program titled MedShield to leverage AI for national pandemic preparedness and response,” according to a March 25 announcement.

The senators say, “The program would leverage AI to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of U.S. pandemic prevention and response across five key areas:”

• Pathogen detection and surveillance
• Vaccine development
• Therapeutic development
• Modeling for pathogen
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