'Healthcare AI Adoption Accelerates as Industry Eyes $125 Billion Growth by 2028'

 According to experts, soon the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare will drastically shift from a novelty, to a critical resource. With over 800 FDA-cleared health AI applications, the new expectation is that AI will be a game changer. In a new article from Fast Company, the author predicts health AI in 2025 will include home testing, AI agents, passive monitoring, ambient documentation, and autonomous coding. The World Economic Forum is also highlighting the ways generative AI could transform clinical trials. According to a new survey from eClinicalWorks, 90% of healthcare professionals report a favorable view of AI. Working to provide these powerful AI tools to the health industry are several innovators, including new developments from Avant Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: AVAI), Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RXRX), Teladoc Health, Inc. (NYSE: TDOC), Butterfly Network, Inc. (NYSE: BFLY), and Absci Corporation (NASDAQ: ABSI).

The article continued: Analysts at market.us are predicting the Generative AI in Healthcare Market to reach US$17.2 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 37% along the way. Researchers at Technavio see an even bigger future, projecting the Smart Healthcare Market (including telemedicine, mHealth, smart pills, and AI) to grow by US$125.7 billion through to 2028.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/healthcare-ai-adoption-accelerates-as-industry-eyes-125-billion-growth-by-2028-302354609.html

Automaker group files lawsuit to block US automatic emergency braking rule

 A group representing major automakers on Friday said it filed lawsuit to block a landmark rule from the administration of President Joe Biden requiring nearly all new cars and trucks by 2029 to have advanced automatic emergency braking systems.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing General Motors, Toyota Motor, Volkswagen and other automakers, said the rule finalized in April by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is "practically impossible with available technology." The group asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to overturn the rule.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/automaker-group-files-lawsuit-to-block-us-automatic-emergency-braking-rule/ar-AA1xnMoj

Biden administration posts last-minute rule to curb low-value shipments

 The Biden administration on Friday issued last-minute proposed rules to curb duty-free imports under the $800 "de minimis" threshold, denying the low-value shipments exemption for goods that are subject to other punitive U.S. tariffs.

The move marks a setback for e-commerce firms, including China-based Shein and PDD Holdings' Temu, which have exploited the de minimis threshold to ship millions of small packages a day to U.S. customers.

The Biden administration first announced in September that it was taking steps to curb the trade "loophole" that it blames for shipments of fentanyl precursor chemicals to evade customs inspection and tariffs.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said the proposed rules would deny duty-free exemptions to low-value packages containing goods subject to Section 301 tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese imports, including many apparel items. They also would eliminate similar exemptions to goods subject to Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum and Section 201 duties on solar products.

In addition, small package shippers also will be required to include the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule classifications for the package contents in order to claim the exemption. The move will allow customs officials to better identify and interdict illicit goods.

"We cannot let Chinese-founded e-commerce platforms gain an unfair trade advantage while American businesses play by the rules," National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard said in a statement.

"Today’s actions are an important step forward to level the playing field for American workers, retailers, and manufacturers and to enforce U.S. laws that protect the health and safety of our consumers."

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2025-01-17/biden-administration-posts-last-minute-rule-to-curb-low-value-shipments

OpenAI finalizes 'o3 mini' reasoning AI model version, to launch it soon

 ChatGPT maker OpenAI has finalized a version of its new reasoning AI model o3 mini and would be launching it in a couple of weeks, CEO Sam Altman said on Friday.

The Microsoft-backed company has considered user feedback and, consequently, plans to release the application programming interface (API) and ChatGPT simultaneously, Altman wrote in a post on social media platform X.

Last December, OpenAI said it was testing reasoning AI models, o3 and o3 mini, indicating growing competition with rivals such as Alphabet's Google to create smarter models capable of tackling complex problems.

The AI startup had planned to launch o3 mini by the end of January, and the full o3 thereafter, as more robust large language models could outperform existing models and attract new investments and users.

In September 2024, the GenAI pioneer released o1 AI models designed to spend more time processing queries to solve harder problems.

The o1 models are capable of reasoning through complex tasks and can solve more challenging problems than previous models in science, coding and math, the company had said in a blog post.

The new o3 and o3 mini models would be more powerful than the previously launched o1 models, the company had said previously.

Earlier this week, OpenAI said it was introducing a beta feature called Tasks to ChatGPT, signaling its foray into the virtual assistant space, competing with Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa.

The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 sparked a frenzy of investments in AI firms, with its growing popularity and new product launches helping OpenAI close a $6.6 billion funding round in October.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/openai-finalizes-o3-mini-reasoning-ai-model-version-launch-it-soon-4871966

Lawyer urges White House, DOJ to clarify app stores may continue to offer TikTok

 A lawyer for TikTok content creators on Friday urged the White House and the Justice Department to clarify to Apple and Google that they can continue to offer the TikTok short-video app in app stores on Sunday when a legal ban is set to take effect.

Jeffrey Fisher, who represented TikTok users in the challenge to the crackdown law before the Supreme Court, wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland and President Joe Biden on Friday, noting that the law forces TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, to shut down on Sunday without administration action.

"We respectfully request that you direct the Justice Department to pause enforcement until there is further definitive guidance," Fisher wrote. "We request that you clarify that no app store, internet hosting service, or other provider faces any risk of enforcement or penalties with respect to TikTok, CapCut, or any other ByteDance apps, until such further guidance has been issued."

https://www.aol.com/news/lawyer-urges-white-house-doj-210626514.html

US agency sues two automakers, alleging discrimination and harassment

 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Friday sued two large automakers, accusing General Motors and the United Auto Workers of age discrimination and the Stellantis unit that includes Chrysler of subjecting female employees to sexual harassment.

GM and the UAW were accused of having since October 2019 maintained a sickness-and-accident benefits policy under their collective bargaining agreement that reduces payouts to older employees who receive Social Security benefits.

The EEOC said the policy, covering at least 50 GM facilities nationwide, discriminates against employees ages 66 and older, violating the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Stellantis' FCA US unit, meanwhile, was accused of having since December 2020 tolerated pervasive sexual harassment of female employees at a Detroit assembly plant, and routinely ignored their complaints about male supervisors and co-workers, some of whom were placed in leadership roles.

The EEOC said the alleged harassment included inappropriate touching and sexually charged comments, and together with FCA's failure to discipline male harassers created a hostile work environment that violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

GM had no immediate comment, having yet to review its complaint. FCA and the UAW did not immediately respond to requests for comment about their respective cases.

The GM and UAW lawsuit seeks to recoup benefits that workers ages 66 and older deserved but never received, while the FCA lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for female employees at the Detroit plant.

Both lawsuits also seek permanent injunctions against further wrongful conduct.

GM and the UAW were sued in the federal court in New Albany, Indiana, while FCA was sued in Detroit federal court.

The lawsuits are part of a string of enforcement actions by several federal agencies in the final days of the Biden administration.

It is unclear how EEOC enforcement priorities will change after President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House.

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2025-01-17/us-agency-sues-two-automakers-alleging-discrimination-and-harassment

Energy Groups, States File Suit to Overturn Biden Offshore Drilling Ban

 A pair of oil and gas industry trade groups and several coastal states filed suit seeking to overturn the Biden administration's recent action restricting oil and natural-gas drilling in millions of acres of federal offshore waters.

While President-elect Donald Trump has already vowed to quickly reverse the restrictions once taking office Monday, it is unclear if he has the authority to do so or if it will require action by a closely divided Congress. A successful lawsuit could further cement any repeal of Biden's actions.

"As we move forward with a legal challenge, we continue to urge Congress and the incoming administration to use every tool at their disposal to restore a pro-American energy approach to federal leasing," American Petroleum Institute Senior Vice President Ryan Meyers said Friday in an announcement about the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana.

In addition to API, the states of Alaska, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi as well as the Gulf Energy Alliance are plaintiffs in the suit, which claims Biden's action is unconstitutional and exceeds the president's authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953.

Last week, Biden used a provision of the act to withdraw more than 625 million acres of waters along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska's Northern Bering Sea from oil and natural-gas leasing.

Biden said he was acting to combat climate change and protect the environment in the areas.

Environmental groups had urged Biden to use the OCSL act to protect the lands because of a previous court ruling that said while the act grants presidents the authority to block drilling on certain lands, it doesn't allow them to reinstate it.

With narrow majorities in both branches of Congress, Republicans could have difficulty securing sufficient votes to restore the area for potential leasing.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/commodity/WTI-2355639/news/Energy-Groups-States-File-Suit-to-Overturn-Biden-Offshore-Drilling-Ban-OPIS-48803897/