AI & Cybersecurity Outlook

As we approach the holidays and look back on the past year we had and look forward to the new year and new presidential administration, I want to discuss some developments in what I think we can all agree are some of the hottest topics in healthcare right now: artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity.

First up is the one that has my vote for the “It” topic of 2024: artificial intelligence (AI). 

As predicted over the last few weeks, President-Elect Trump appointed entrepreneur and venture capitalist David Sacks as his “AI and crypto czar.” You may have heard this term “czar” a lot in the last few years, but it generally refers to a high-level executive-branch appointee who specializes in some specific area of policy.

Notably, the position bypasses the typical Senate confirmation process that can take months or even years, and allows a president to hire someone immediately. Presidents as far back as FDR have utilized the concept, but this is the first time one will be dedicated to this type of technology. While not much is known about the newly created position, Trump stated that Sacks will “guide policy” and create the legal framework on AI and cryptocurrency, focusing on making the U.S. the leader in both areas by “safeguard(ing) free speech online, and steer(ing) us away from big tech bias and censorship.”

At the Capitol, current health policy congressional staff recently met with the nonprofit AI group Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) for an event where roundtable participants gave their opinions on the future of AI under the second Trump Administration and new Congress.

Frequent readers may recall that in the fall of 2023, Congress held a series of discussions in which the goal was to find out the basics of AI and AI policy. In predicting more bipartisan work on the issue, as it has generally been so far, a Democrat staffer at the event noted that Congress is now ready for specific policy recommendations, rather than general fact-finding. A GOP staffer echoed the likelihood of future bipartisan action, and noted Trump’s enthusiasm for AI.

Turning to cybersecurity and its outlook for the new year, a recent Stat report suggests that as many as 172 million U.S. citizens have been impacted in some way by health data breaches in 2024, and with the recent government report that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is struggling to meet its cybersecurity responsibilities, the issue is pressing.

With that in mind, a group of bipartisan senators introduced a new bill directly targeting healthcare cyberattacks. Titled the Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act of 2024, the bill is a result of the Senate healthcare cybersecurity working group last year.

The bill, according to a press release from the authors, strengthens cybersecurity in the sector in several ways: by clarifying cybersecurity breach reporting obligations, providing grants to hospitals for cyberattack prevention and response improvements, and providing training on and modernizing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations to ensure that covered entities are required to use best cybersecurity practices.

While it’s been made pretty clear that President-Elect Trump is ready to tackle AI head-on, it’s slightly less clear what direction he could take on cybersecurity issues. Although efforts on both have generally been bipartisan thus far, many have commented on the potential for an overall reduction in regulations under a Trump Administration more broadly, and budget uncertainty for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – that is, the agency responsible for cybersecurity in the U.S.

Only 2025 will tell!