News/Gov Tech
DOGE builds AI tool to slash federal regulations in hours, not months
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has developed SweetREX, an AI tool designed to automatically review federal regulations and identify rules for elimination across US government agencies. Created by Christopher Sweet, a University of Chicago undergraduate who took leave to join DOGE, the tool aims to support President Trump's deregulation agenda by reducing the time needed to review regulations from months to just hours or days. What you should know: SweetREX operates by scanning federal regulations to flag sections it deems unnecessary based on statutory requirements, then generates draft revisions for government review. The tool primarily uses Google's Gemini AI...
read Aug 14, 2025University at Buffalo launches 7 AI bachelor’s degrees with $5M state funding
The University at Buffalo has launched a new Department of AI and Society, offering seven AI-focused bachelor's degrees and two minors that combine artificial intelligence with traditional academic disciplines like communication, economics, and policy analysis. The initiative, supported by a $5 million state investment and part of the broader Empire AI initiative backed by over $500 million in funding, positions UB to prepare students for AI's expanding role across industries while establishing the university as a major player in responsible AI education. What you should know: The new academic programs represent a comprehensive approach to AI education that emphasizes interdisciplinary...
read Aug 14, 2025Ai2 secures $152M from NSF and NVIDIA for open scientific AI research
Ai2, a Seattle-based nonprofit AI research institute, has secured $152 million in combined funding from the National Science Foundation ($75 million) and NVIDIA ($77 million) to build a national-level open AI ecosystem for scientific research. The partnership will establish the Open Multimodal AI Infrastructure to Accelerate Science (OMAI) project, positioning Ai2 to advance both AI-driven scientific discovery and the fundamental science of AI itself through fully transparent, reproducible models. What you should know: The OMAI project represents a major federal investment in open-source AI infrastructure specifically designed for scientific applications. Led by Dr. Noah A. Smith, Senior Director of NLP...
read Aug 13, 2025More than a nice-to-have: UT Dallas CIO says agentic AI is essential for higher education
Frank Feagans, VP of IT and CIO at the University of Texas at Dallas, is advocating for the integration of agentic AI into university curricula and operations, emphasizing that this technology is no longer aspirational but essential for higher education's future. His approach centers on channeling human experience through AI governance strategy while bringing private industry best practices to academic institutions. What you should know: Feagans believes universities must embrace agentic AI to remain competitive and relevant in preparing students for future careers. Through corporate partnerships, UT Dallas is fostering a culture that promotes emerging technology benefits by engaging students...
read Aug 13, 2025Alabama colleges develop AI policies balancing academic integrity with job readiness
Calhoun Community College and Athens State University in Alabama are developing comprehensive AI policies for classrooms as generative AI becomes more prevalent in education. The institutions are working to balance academic integrity concerns with the practical need to prepare students for AI-integrated workplaces, particularly in high-demand fields like cybersecurity. What you should know: Both colleges are still finalizing their AI policies, with approaches varying significantly by department and program focus. Calhoun currently categorizes AI use into three levels: restricted, limited, and integrated, with different rules applying across departments. The Computer Information Systems (CIS) division actively encourages AI use, recognizing that...
read Aug 12, 2025MIT startup helps police connect crimes across jurisdictions with AI
Multitude Insights, a three-year-old Somerville startup founded by MIT graduates, has developed AI-powered software to help police departments modernize crime bulletins and identify patterns across jurisdictions. The platform has been piloted by Boston, Brookline, and Watertown police departments among dozens of agencies across 10 states, representing a significant shift from traditional paper-based and faxed crime reporting systems. What you should know: The software replaces antiquated paper bulletins with digital templates and uses AI to connect crimes across multiple jurisdictions. Police officers can create digital crime bulletins using template forms instead of printed papers, PDFs, or faxed copies. AI analyzes multiple...
read Aug 12, 2025Post at your peril: UK’s HMRC uses AI to monitor social media for tax fraud investigations
HMRC has confirmed it uses artificial intelligence to monitor social media posts as part of criminal investigations into suspected tax cheats, marking a significant expansion of automated surveillance in tax enforcement. The technology enables the tax authority to streamline investigations while raising important questions about privacy, accuracy, and the role of AI in government oversight. What you should know: HMRC, the UK's tax authority, emphasizes that AI monitoring is limited to criminal investigations and includes human oversight to prevent automated decision-making. The technology is only used as part of criminal investigations, not on everyday taxpayers, according to an HMRC spokesperson....
read Aug 12, 2025Australia’s first sovereign AI data center launches in 2026 via Dell-Macquarie deal
Macquarie Data Centres, part of the Macquarie Technology Group, and Dell Technologies are partnering to establish Australia's first sovereign AI infrastructure facility, combining Dell's AI technology with locally-operated data center infrastructure. The initiative addresses growing concerns about Australia's lack of investment in domestic AI capabilities, which experts warn poses national security and economic risks in an increasingly competitive global AI landscape. What you should know: The Dell AI Factory with Nvidia will be hosted in Macquarie's purpose-built IC3 Super West data center, a 47MW facility designed specifically for high-power AI workloads. The facility is scheduled for completion in mid-2026 and...
read Aug 11, 2025The AI will take your statement now: Jersey police streamline witness interviews and boost forensics
Jersey police have successfully integrated artificial intelligence into their crime-fighting operations, with AI-powered tools now helping transcribe witness interviews and enhance digital forensics capabilities. The States of Jersey Police Authority's annual report highlights how these technological advances are delivering "long-term efficiencies and enhanced decision-making" while maintaining human oversight of all AI-assisted processes. What you should know: The Jersey police force began testing AI transcription technology in March to streamline witness interview processing and improve operational efficiency. Police Chief Robin Smith emphasized that while AI promises enhanced capabilities, all processes remain under human supervision to ensure accuracy and accountability. The technology...
read Aug 11, 2025Saudi Arabia deploys OpenAI’s open-source models in sovereign data centers
Saudi Arabia's AI venture Humain and chipmaker Groq have deployed OpenAI's new open-source models—gpt-oss-120B and gpt-oss-20B—within Saudi Arabia's sovereign data centers. This marks a significant step in Saudi Arabia's push for AI sovereignty, ensuring compliance with local data regulations while providing high-speed AI inference capabilities to enterprises, government institutions, and developers without requiring data to leave the Kingdom. What you should know: The deployment brings cutting-edge AI capabilities directly to Saudi infrastructure with impressive performance metrics.• The gpt-oss-120B model operates at over 500 tokens per second, while the smaller gpt-oss-20B delivers over 1,000 tokens per second on Groq's specialized hardware.•...
read Aug 11, 2025House Democrats push CMS to cancel AI-driven Medicare approval program
More than a dozen House Democrats have pressed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz to cancel a planned prior authorization pilot program that would expand AI-driven approval requirements to traditional Medicare. The program, set to begin testing in six states this January, represents a significant shift for traditional Medicare, which has historically operated without extensive prior authorization requirements. What you should know: The pilot program incorporates artificial intelligence to help make healthcare coverage decisions, marking a departure from traditional Medicare's historically streamlined approach. Representatives Suzan DelBene of Washington and Ami Bera of California led the Democratic...
read Aug 11, 2025NASA and Google build AI medical assistant for Mars missions
NASA and Google have developed the Crew Medical Officer Digital Assistant (CMO-DA), an AI-powered medical tool designed specifically for Mars missions and long-distance space travel. The system addresses critical challenges of space medicine, including communication delays of up to 223 minutes with Earth and the impossibility of medical evacuations or sample returns during multi-year missions. How it works: The CMO-DA runs on Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform and uses open-source language models like Llama 3 and Mistral-3 Small to provide independent medical diagnostics. NASA retains full ownership of the tool's source code, while Google provides the cloud infrastructure and AI...
read Aug 8, 2025“Learn to AI”: California propels workforce training with tech giants across public education system
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced partnerships with Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and IBM to integrate AI training and tools across the state's community colleges and California State University system. The voluntary agreements aim to prepare students and educators for an AI-driven workforce while modernizing curricula and expanding access to generative AI technologies across California's public education system. What you should know: These memoranda of understanding formalize partnerships focused on workforce development, teacher training, and hands-on AI experience without any exchange of funds. Google is providing AI-focused training courses for students on effective prompting and for educators on using generative AI...
read Aug 8, 2025Ultimate help desk: UC San Diego’s TritonGPT allows staff of 38K to streamline tasks
UC San Diego has deployed TritonGPT, a collection of AI assistants powered by multiple large language models, to streamline administrative workflows and improve access to institutional knowledge across the university. The platform, which earned UCSD a CIO 100 Award this year, now serves 38,000 faculty and employees and has expanded to partner universities, demonstrating how academic institutions can leverage AI to boost operational efficiency while keeping sensitive data in-house. What you should know: TritonGPT began as a solution to help student service desk staff answer queries more effectively by connecting the university's knowledge base to large language models. Development started...
read Aug 8, 2025Tacoma demands residents get sorted, deploys AI recycling cameras that mail violation photos
Tacoma, Washington has deployed AI-powered cameras on recycling trucks to identify incorrectly placed items in residents' bins, with violators receiving postcards showing images of their trash along with proper recycling guidelines. The two-year program, funded by a $1.8 million EPA grant, aims to improve recycling efficiency by reducing contamination that forces workers to spend time sorting materials and can lead to entire loads being sent to landfills. How it works: Prairie Robotics, a Canada-based company, developed the system that scans recycling bins as trucks make their rounds through neighborhoods. Cameras mounted on collection vehicles automatically identify items that don't belong...
read Aug 7, 2025British MP’s AI avatar struggles with Yorkshire accents
Leeds MP Mark Sewards has launched what's billed as the first AI avatar of a British MP, allowing constituents to interact with a digital version that responds in his voice. However, testing by The Guardian revealed significant limitations when the AI encountered Yorkshire accents and local dialect, highlighting ongoing challenges with voice recognition technology for regional speech patterns. How it works: The "Sewardsbot" features a Pixar-style cartoon representation of the Labour MP for Leeds South West and Morley that can field questions from constituents.• The AI responds in Sewards' actual voice, offering advice, support, or promising to pass messages to...
read Aug 7, 2025Beyond the science fair: North Carolina students build AI chatbots in 2-day prompt-a-thon
Catawba County Schools in North Carolina hosted a two-day "prompt-a-thon" this week to help 30 students build AI literacy through hands-on experimentation with generative AI tools. The event marks the beginning of a three-year partnership with AI for Education, a nonprofit organization, to implement AI programs across all 28 schools in the district, preparing students for an increasingly AI-driven future. What you should know: The prompt-a-thon took place August 4-5 at the Hickory Metro Convention Center, where students worked in teams to design AI solutions for real-world problems. One team created a program to help students manage daily schedules, while...
read Aug 7, 2025AI school surveillance creates false alarms in 67% of cases
AI surveillance systems in American schools are flagging students for false threats at alarming rates, leading to arrests, strip searches, and involuntary mental health commitments for teenagers whose words were taken out of context. A 13-year-old Tennessee girl was arrested and jailed overnight after making an offensive joke about her friends calling her "Mexican," while data from one Kansas district shows nearly two-thirds of AI alerts were deemed non-issues by school officials. The big picture: Thousands of school districts now use AI-powered surveillance software like Gaggle and Lightspeed Alert to monitor student communications on school accounts and devices, creating a...
read Aug 7, 2025NSF awards $32M to 5 teams for AI-powered protein design breakthroughs
The National Science Foundation has awarded nearly $32 million to five teams across the United States through its inaugural Use-Inspired Acceleration of Protein Design (NSF USPRD) initiative. This strategic investment aims to accelerate the translation of AI-based protein design approaches into real-world applications, strengthening America's competitive position in the rapidly expanding bioeconomy sector. Why this matters: The funding represents a critical push to maintain U.S. leadership in biotechnology as global competition intensifies, particularly in areas where AI-driven protein design could revolutionize industries from manufacturing to healthcare. The big picture: The National Science Foundation's Technology, Innovation and Partnerships directorate is betting...
read Aug 6, 2025Federal agencies can now buy OpenAI’s ChatGPT for just $1 annually
OpenAI has announced a major partnership with the US government, making its frontier AI models available to federal agencies for just $1 for the next year through an agreement with the General Services Administration. This unprecedented deal represents the culmination of months of lobbying efforts by OpenAI executives and positions the company to capture a significant share of the massive federal AI market, particularly as the Trump administration accelerates government modernization efforts. What you should know: The partnership grants federal employees access to OpenAI's most advanced models at a symbolic price point, marking a significant expansion of AI tools across...
read Aug 6, 2025Democrats launch AI playbook to combat GOP’s $1.2M tech use advantage
The National Democratic Training Committee has released the first official AI playbook for Democratic campaigns, offering guidance on responsible artificial intelligence use ahead of the 2026 midterms. The comprehensive training program targets smaller campaigns with limited resources, aiming to help five-person teams operate with the efficiency of 15-person teams while maintaining ethical standards and transparency. What you should know: The three-part training course covers AI fundamentals and practical applications for campaign operations. Democrats can use AI to create social media content, write voter outreach messages, draft speeches, develop phonebanking scripts, and research districts and opponents. All AI-generated content must be...
read Aug 6, 2025India’s Yashoda AI program trains 2,500 rural women in digital skills
India's National Commission for Women has trained 2,500 women from rural and semi-urban areas through its Yashoda AI program, an artificial intelligence literacy initiative aimed at enhancing digital inclusion. The program targets women from diverse backgrounds including self-help group members, elected officials, healthcare workers, and entrepreneurs to build AI literacy skills in cybersecurity, digital privacy, and safe online practices. What you should know: The Yashoda AI program represents a significant government effort to bridge the digital divide for women in underserved communities. Participants include members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs), local elected representatives such as sarpanchs, pradhans, parshads, mayors, MLAs, ASHA...
read Aug 5, 2025NSF invests $100M in AI-powered cloud labs for scientific research
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a new funding opportunity that will invest up to $100 million to create a network of "programmable cloud laboratories" nationwide. These AI-enabled facilities will allow researchers to remotely access cutting-edge technology to automate scientific discovery and innovation, directly implementing a priority from the White House AI Action Plan. What you should know: The NSF PCL Test Bed initiative will establish artificial intelligence-enabled laboratories that can be remotely accessed to run custom, user-programmed AI workflows. The program will be led by NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) and is subject to future...
read Aug 4, 2025AI could perhaps help governments make better decisions by 2032
The idea of artificial intelligence playing a role in governance may sound like science fiction, but recent technological advances suggest this concept deserves serious consideration. As AI systems become increasingly sophisticated and embedded in critical infrastructure—from healthcare to education to justice systems—the question isn't whether AI will influence governance, but how extensively and in what capacity. This shift toward AI-assisted decision-making represents more than technological evolution; it reflects growing recognition that traditional governance models struggle with complex, data-driven challenges that define modern society. While the prospect of AI directly participating in political leadership remains speculative, the underlying technology is already...
read